


brightmoon diner

by bakeApie



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternative Universe - Diner, Chef Adora, F/F, Late night diner, Mutual Pining, POV Catra (She-Ra), Slow Burn, lonesome hearted lesbians, sous vide, waitress catra
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:14:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 34,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27485596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bakeApie/pseuds/bakeApie
Summary: “Long night, honey?” Catra called all her customers honey. It was diner thing more than a Catra thing. The drunk mumbled something incoherent and Catra rolled her eyes. Just because she was used to dealing with drunks on a nearly nightly basis didn’t mean they weren’t annoying as hell. She hardened her tone and raised her voice a little, “You’re going to have to speak up if you want to order anything.”The drunk finally sat up, pushed their hood back, and looked at Catra, blue eyes bloodshot and tear stained. Catra recognized her instantly.“Adora?”or, a late night diner AU
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 487
Kudos: 947





	1. blue eyes crying in the rain

**Author's Note:**

> Hi folks, I needed a break from my other fic and I just really, _really_ love diners. So lonesome, so comfortable. So please indulge me in this late night diner fic.
> 
> Rated T for language & drinking.

Forget midnight. Three AM is the true middle of the night. By three in the morning, the bars have long closed and the drunks have stumbled home. The early morning crowd won’t be up for another hour or so. Almost nobody’s out at three, and there were definitely never any customers at the Brightmoon Diner at three. And that’s exactly why it was Catra’s favorite shift hour. She could step out for a smoke and finish off the last of the coffee before starting a fresh pot for the morning crowd. Some nights, like tonight, she really leaned into the midnight diner vibe and let her classic country playlist fill the diner with Hank Williams and Patsy Cline heartbreakers.

Scorpia was in the kitchen tonight, working another graveyard shift after Lonnie quit earlier in the week. Catra liked when Scorpia worked the graveyard with her, but she knew the hours were rough on her friend, who was obstinately positive, always upbeat and most definitely a morning person. The late nights were taking a toll on Scorpia and Catra hoped that they would hire a new night cook soon, even if she wouldn’t get to pass the hours with her friend.

“I swear, Wildcat, I do not know how you work this shift every night. I’ve been dying since Lonnie quit. And I feel like such a zombie all the time.” Scorpa took a long sip of her coffee and stretched. “But it is great to have this time with my bestie!”

“You’ll get used to it. You’ll probably finally feel adjusted the day that we hire another cook, and then you’ll have to go through the whole thing again, switch back to daytime hours. At least you’re not working doubles like Huntara.”

“Well regardless, this shift is killer. Huntara better hire someone soon or I’m going to quit too.”

“She would never let you quit.”

Catra went out in the alley behind the diner for a quick smoke. She was thinking about heading back inside when she heard the bell over the diner’s door chime. She heard Scorpia holler at the new customer from the kitchen, “Grab any seat, we’ll be out in a minute.”

Catra took her time finishing her cigarette, but then quickly headed back in. She paused at the dish sink to wash her hands and glanced through the kitchen window. The customer had taken a seat in one of the booths and was leaning sloppily on against the widow, the hood of their hoodie pulled down low over their head and obscuring most of their face. Great, a late night drunk. Catra sighed and headed out to take their order.

“Long night, honey?” Catra called all her customers honey. It was diner thing more than a Catra thing. The drunk mumbled something incoherent and Catra rolled her eyes. Just because she was used to dealing with drunks on a nearly nightly basis didn’t mean they weren’t annoying as hell. She hardened her tone and raised her voice a little, “You’re going to have to speak up if you want to order anything.”

The drunk finally sat up, pushed their hood back, and looked at Catra, blue eyes bloodshot and tear stained. Catra recognized her instantly.

“Adora?”

“Thasss me,” she slurred. Though she had obviously been crying recently, her face lit up with a ridiculous, boozy grin. “Who are you, cutie?”

“Okay, I’m going to let that one slide because you’re drunk as shit and I actually know you, but you better watch what you call me from here on out,” Catra warned. Adora just chuckled. Catra sighed and continued, “You seriously don’t recognize me? I’m Catra, from high school…?” 

Adora sat up a little and narrowed her eyes, trying to survey Catra through her drunken stupor. She stared for a good minute before she started slowly shaking her head.

“Nope. No way. You’re not Catra from high school. Catra from high school had long pretty hair and she was mean. Catra from high school never talked to me. She never talked to anybody! And Catra from high school lives in Etheria, not here. You’re just the nice waitress.” Adora pushed her hoodie back and revealed that she too had chopped all her hair off. Gone was her signature blonde ponytail and stupid poof. 

“Oh for fucks sake, Adora. People leave town and cut their hair. You obviously did.”

Adora frowned and ran her hand through her short hair, seemingly confused by Catra’s gruff response.

“Everything okay out there, Wildcat?” Scorpia called from the kitchen.

“Yeah, Scorp. Just a drunken blast from the past. I’m good.” Catra turned back to Adora, who had slumped back down in the booth. “Alright Adora, look at me.” Catra snapped in Adora’s face to get her attention. “Here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to brew a new pot of coffee and you’re going to drink it and several glasses of water, and then you’re going to fill your stomach full of biscuits and gravy while you sober up.”

“Mmm, gravy.”

Catra groaned and headed back to the kitchen. She relayed the order to Scorpia, who nodded and started to assemble the plate.

“So who is she? You know her?”   
  
“Just someone I went to high school with. I haven’t seen her for like five years? I never expect to see anyone from home here, it’s weird. And she’s wasted. She doesn’t even recognize me.”   
  
“Were you friends?”   
  
“Nah, but we knew each other. Small town, so you know everyone. She was a jock, super popular. We didn’t exactly run in the same circles.”

High school had not been great for Catra, and she had fled her tiny hometown as soon as she’d graduated. She had bounced around jobs for awhile and taken some classes at a community college but nothing really stuck until she started working at the Brightmoon Diner. It paid enough (barely) to cover her rent and easily facilitated her reclusive, night owl tendencies. It was comfortable and easy and so much better than the situation she’d left back in Etheria. The only person who seemed to think her lifestyle wasn’t great was Scorpia, who was always pushing Catra to switch to the day shift, get out and socialize more, be a “normal person,” whatever that meant. Catra knew Scorpia meant well but she had no plans to switch things up any time soon, thank you very much.

Catra returned to Adora’s booth with the food, coffee and a pitcher of water. She set everything down and slid into the booth across from Adora. “Alright dummy, start eating. I don’t know how much you’ve had to drink but nothing soaks up alcohol like biscuits and gravy. And you better finish that glass of water.”   
  
“You got it, boss.” Adora snorted and shot some finger guns across the table at Catra before plowing into the plate.

Catra watched Adora inhale the food. “I can’t believe you don’t recognize me. Honestly, I’m a little offended. I’ve known you since like fourth grade.” They hadn’t been friends, but Etheria was tiny and they had several classes together over the years. They even failed a group project together in history senior year. Adora should  _ definitely _ remember her.

“I recognize you,” Adora replied. “You’re my waitress, you brought me my food. And thank you, this is SO GOOD.” Adora was talking with her mouth full of biscuits, crumbs flying across the table. It was gross, but nowhere near the worst thing Catra had dealt with at the diner. It wasn’t even the grossest thing she’d see that shift, given that it was a Friday night.

“Ugh, fine, just keep eating. And drink your water.”

As Adora continued to plow through the plate of food, Catra considered asking her what led her to wind up drunk and alone in a diner like the Brightmoon at three forty-five in the morning. She probably got dumped earlier or something boring. Catra decided she didn’t care. She also considered some more standard “catching up” questions, like when did Adora move to town, how was college, what was she up to these days, but Adora was way too drunk for that kind of small talk. So Catra just sat and watched her eat. Eventually Adora paused and waved her fork at Catra across the table.

“Hey, not-Catra,” she slurred. Catra groaned under her breath, curious what Adora was going to say.

“Adora, I  _ am _ Catra. Look, it’s even on my name tag.” She pointed at the tag on her apron.   
  
“No, I already explained. You’re not Catra,” Adora argued, with the misguided confidence of a drunk idiot.

“Okay, whatever, Adora. What do you need?”   
  
“Can I get some eggs? Over medium? And hashbrowns? And like A LOT of hot sauce?”

“Are you serious? You just polished off a whole plate of biscuits and gravy.”

“I am always serious when I’m talking about breakfast food.” Adora tried to hold a serious face before she broke out in an absurd giggle.

“Alright drunkie, coming right up.” Catra slid out of the booth and headed back to the kitchen to put in the order. More greasy food would only help her sober up faster. She relayed the order to Scorpia and decided to stay back in the kitchen while she waited for it.

“So that looks like a big trainwreck,” Scorpia noted as she fried up the eggs and hashbrowns. Since she normally worked the dinner shift, Scorpia wasn’t as used to the drunk crowd that filtered through the diner on weekends. When Catra had first started, dealing with drunks had been one of the most annoying parts of her job, but now she just rolled with it. As long as they paid, weren’t belligerent, and didn’t hurl in the booth, Catra couldn’t care less.

“Yeah, I have no idea what’s going on with her. But I guess we should keep her here until she sobers up, right?” Scorpia agreed as she finished up the plate and passed it to Catra.

When Catra returned to Adora’s booth, she found the woman slumped down against the window, snoring. Rather than wake her, Catra decided it was best to let her sleep it off until the morning rush started. She left the plate of food and settled in behind the counter to pass the time until the early morning crowd started to filter in.

Around six thirty, she returned to Adora’s booth to check on her. Adora was still sleeping but Catra knew the diner was going to start filling up soon. She gently poked Adora on the shoulder. Adora jolted awake with a gasp, eyes wide and frantically scanning the room.

“Hey, Adora…” Catra tried to get her attention. Adora snapped her head towards the sound of Catra’s voice and blinked a few times, obviously trying to process where she was and who she was looking at. Catra could practically see the gears turning in her head.

“Hey, hello, Adora...you good?” Catra was met with more blinking, and then eventually a groan.

“What...where? Where am I?”

“You’re at the Brightmoon Diner. You came in drunk as fuck a couple of hours ago, ate some food and passed out.”

“What time is it?”

“Six thirty.”   
  
“Fuck.” Adora kept looking around, trying to piece together where she was. But eventually her attention returned to Catra. “Wait, I know you. Catra from high school. Holy shit.”   
  
“Oh, NOW you recognize me.”

Adora stared blankly, clearly unable to remember anything from before she passed out.

“You refused to believe it was me when you came in and...you know what, nevermind. Can I call you a cab or something? Do you live around here?”

“What part of town are we in?”

“Wow, really? I don’t think I even want to know what happened before you got here. Anyway, we’re near the waterfront, across from Thaymore Park.”

“Shit. Okay. Yeah, I’m going to grab a cab. Did I order anything? How much do I owe you?”

“It’s on the house, honey.” Catra winked, reassuming her salty diner waitress persona. “I’ll call you the cab, we’ve got a deal with a driver. He picks up all the drunks that wander in here, it’s good for business. You want another coffee while you wait?”

“Sure.” Adora groaned some more and buried her face in her hands. Catra left to check on other customers while Adora nursed her hangover and waited for her ride. Ten minutes later, while Adora was on her way out the door, she stopped to thank Catra.

“Well, I’d say it was good to see you, but I don’t remember most of it. I hope I didn’t say anything too embarrassing.”

“Nah, you were fine. It was good to see you too. It’s always weird running into someone from back home.” Catra saw the cab pulling up to the curb. “There’s Rogelio, tell him your ride’s on me, and I’ll get him back next time he comes in.”

“You don’t have to do that.” Adora really did look embarrassed. Her expression made Catra suspect that last night’s bender wasn’t a regular occurrence.

“Consider it a hometown discount. I’m guessing your night was pretty rough before you ended up here.”

“Thanks Catra.”

“No problem. Now go get some sleep. If you feel half as bad you look, you must be dying.” She patted Adora on the shoulder, a gesture she intended to be reassuring but ended up feeling more like an awkward shove out the door. “Anyway, I gotta run some food out. Take care.”

* * *

Catra assumed that would be the last she’d see of Adora Grayskull. But a couple of nights later, around two-thirty, Catra was humming along to a Kitty Wells song and doodling on a napkin when Adora sat down at the counter. Catra regarded her silently for a moment, sizing her up and smirking a little. Adora looked nervous.

“Hey Adora. Back for more biscuits?”

“Biscuits? I thought I had eggs.”

“You had both. You know what, nevermind. You sober tonight?”

“Yeah, sorry about that. That’s actually why I came back. To apologize.” Adora was drumming her fingers on the countertop. Catra poured her a glass of water and plopped a table setting and menu down in front of her.

“You don’t have anything to apologize for. I’ve seen worse, trust me. You didn’t even barf or try to slap my ass.”

Adora cringed. “Part of me wants to know how much we talked before I passed out, but another smarter part of me thinks I should just leave it alone.”

Catra laughed a little and replied, “Well, Scorpia did refer to you as, quote,  _ a real trainwreck _ , but you didn’t say anything particularly embarrassing. I was mostly just offended that you didn’t recognize me. Oh, and if I remember correctly, you said that I couldn’t be Catra because Catra from high school was  _ pretty and mean _ . So I don’t know if you were implying that I’m currently not pretty or that I’m not mean, or both, but I’m kind of pissed about that too.”

Adora groaned. Catra laughed some more, clearly not actually offended, and continued, “Honestly, if I had to pick a slogan,  _ pretty and mean _ would probably be a good choice, don’t you think? So thank you for that brilliant insight.”

Adora’s nervous embarrassment seemed to have transitioned to actual horror. She was blushing deep red and had apparently lost the ability to make eye contact with Catra. “Fuck. Sorry. Would you believe me if I said that I’ve never been that drunk in my life?”

“You don’t have to explain yourself. We’ve all had rough nights.”

“I also noticed that help wanted sign in the window when I came in.” Adora seemed desperate to change the subject, but job talk was not something Catra had anticipated. She cocked her eyebrow at Adora, wondering if she knew what the job entailed.

“You want to work here? We’re looking for another short order cook for this shift. You ever worked in a diner kitchen before?” People think that anybody can flip burgers and fry eggs but working the flat top at a diner takes skill. Catra doubted that Adora knew what job they were looking for when she asked about the sign. She was extremely dubious that Adora even knew a spatula from a whisk, let alone how to cook.

“I’ve worked in kitchens.” There was a tinge of resignation, almost disappointment in Adora’s voice as she said it.

Catra was surprised. Adora had been a top student in high school, and never had to work a job after school or on weekends. And as far as Catra knew, she had gone to college on some kind of sports scholarship. Soccer? Basketball? Catra couldn’t remember but it had been a big deal at the time. So restaurant work was a surprise.

“Okay well, you’re going to have to talk to Huntara, the owner. She works the kitchen at breakfast. You can come back around 7:30 and I can introduce you at the end of my shift.”

“Can I just wait here?” She seemed deflated and Catra wondered if she had anywhere else to go. Catra let it go. She’d learned over the years that people treated diner waitresses like bartenders — sometimes folks were looking for someone to spill their troubles to, and sometimes they just needed a good cup of coffee and a warm meal. Whatever Adora was going through was none of her business.

“Sure, but you’re going to need to order something if you want to park at the counter for five hours.”

“I guess I better try the biscuits then, huh?”

“Coming right up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter titles will all be songs from the golden era of country. Chapter 1, "Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain," is a classic, originally recorded by Roy Acuff in 1947, but I'm partial to Hank William's version.
> 
> Maybe I'll put together Catra's lonesome hearts playlist as I continue working on this.
> 
> Let me know what you think in the comments or drop me a line on twitter @okegihshigeko 
> 
> Next chapter should be up by the end of the week!


	2. have you ever been lonely?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora starts working as the late night cook at the Brightmoon Diner, and she and Catra strike a deal.

Adora started working at the Brightmoon Diner two nights later. She was already in the kitchen, wearing an actual chef’s uniform, when Catra arrived for her shift. Clean white jacket, baggy black and white striped pants, _clogs_ , and a greasy red bandana tied over her hair.

Part of the night shift cook’s job was prep work for the morning, and Adora was making short work of a pile of onions. She didn’t notice Catra come in, so Catra just parked against the dishwashing sink and watched Adora chop at a speed she’d only seen on Top Chef. And did she actually bring her own knives? Adora’s hands were mesmerizing and Catra’s thoughts drifted a little, wondering where Adora had learned to cook and how she ended here. Eventually, as Adora started sweeping the diced onions into a bin, Catra let out a long, low whistle.

Adora jumped at the sound, nearly dropped the bin, and let out a loud “FUCK!” before turning around.

“Wow, jumpy,” Catra teased. “Nervous about your first night?”

“No,” Adora replied, clearly more cranky than nervous. Maybe she wasn’t used to late nights. “You should just tell me when you’re standing behind me.”

“Sorry, _chef_ . You know we don’t have to wear uniforms here right? But ‘ _dress for the job you want_ ,’ right?”

“Pff, yeah, that is _not_ what I’m doing. This is just what I cook in.” Adora wiped her hands and leaned back against the counter. She seemed to have recovered from the initial startle but Catra still sensed a bit of an edge. But if Adora was going to be working with her, she was going to have to get used to Catra’s specific brand of shit, so she didn’t let up.

“So, how’d you convince Huntara to hire you? Not like her to hand out a charity job.” Adora bristled a little at the charity jab, but Catra figured that it was more than obvious at this point that Adora actually knew how to cook. The Brightmoon might be a greasy spoon but Huntara was insistent that they maintain their reputation as the city’s best 24 hour diner. Catra knew she probably wouldn’t just hire some random idiot off the street to cook for her, graveyard shift or not.

“It was actually a fun interview. She told me to cook my ultimate dinner special.” Adora’s face finally actually started to lighten up a little. Maybe Catra wouldn’t be working with a permanent grouch after all.

“Ooo, tough decision. I know what I would have made. What did you do?”

“Guess.”

“I literally have no idea what you would think the ultimate dinner plate would be. But let’s see, if it wasn’t a burger, it better have been something fried…"

“Yeah. Go on.” Adora had moved on to dicing peppers and once again, Catra was hypnotized by the speed of her knife. She watched Adora rapidly reduce peppers into little piles while she pondered the plate Adora might have cooked for Huntara.

“You probably included some type of potato side. I can’t tell if you’re a mashed, baked or fried woman. I guess it depends on the main.” As Catra continued debating her options, the bell above the door dinged. Catra left Adora in the kitchen to check on the new customer.

A small woman with long purple hair had taken a seat at the counter. She was a late night regular and Catra already knew her order but checked in on her anyway. She grabbed a coke from the drink station on her way over.

“Hey honey, having the regular?”

“Hi Catra! Yes, I will have my regular order. Where’s Scorpia? Did she quit too?”

“No, we finally hired someone new.” Catra pointed back to the kitchen, where Adora was watching them through the food window. Adora gave a little wave. “She was just about to tell me what dinner plate she cooked for Huntara during her interview. What do you think she made to make Huntara hire her?”

“I would need more data to answer that question. What were the guidelines for this test? What are the most popular dinner plates at the Brightmoon? Is there some kind of taste index that we can use to score the options?”

“I think she was flying blind.” Catra turned and called through the window, “Just tell us what you made, Adora. Entrapta here is dying to know. And while you’re at it, she wants a plate of silver dollar cakes.”

“Chicken fried steak, smothered in gravy, side of mashed potatoes and steamed veggies.” Adora was grinning smugly like she’d cracked an impossible puzzle, not cooked the most obvious meal possible. Dork. After her answer, Adora turned to pour out a dozen tiny circles of pancake batter on the flat top. Catra leaned against the counter to continue their conversation through the order window.

“Classic. But the real question is, did you use the house gravy or make your own?”

“I went with the house.”  
  
“Solid move, that gravy is Huntara’s pride and joy. Interview would have been over if you tried to make your own.” Granted, at this point in the day, Adora could probably improve on the hot pot of gravy warming on the counter. Huntara made a fresh batch every morning and by the time Catra’s shift rolled around, it had usually lost a little of its magic. Not that the night crowd seemed to care.

The trio continued chatting as Entrapta munched on her tiny pancakes and sipped her coke. She came in almost every night at one and Catra enjoyed her company. She was some kind of computer programmer who lived nearby and never slept. She had tried to explain her work to Catra several times but all Catra got from it was that she kept her own hours and seemed to have a thing for tiny food and fizzy beverages.

* * *

Later in the shift, when the diner was empty again, Catra returned to the kitchen. Adora was cleaning the flat top with more attention to detail than Catra had ever seen paid to it. Like earlier, Adora was in the zone and failed to notice her when she leaned against the cabinet next to the flat top. Catra wondered how long Adora would go without acknowledging her. She waited a minute or so and inched, just slightly, closer to where Adora was scrubbing. No response. She inched closer. Still no response. She repeated that a couple of more times over a five minute period until Adora tossed her rag down and whirled to face Catra.

“Catra! Do you have to stand _right there_ ?!” Adora huffed. Catra responded with a shit-eating _who, me?_ expression.

“Easy, tiger. I was just testing something.”

“What?”

“That’s private,” Catra smirked. “If we’re going to be working together every night, you’re seriously going to have to relax. This is a long, boring shift.”

Adora’s shoulders loosened a little and her look of frustration turned to something more like exhaustion. “Sorry. It’s been a rough couple of weeks and I’m not used to being up this late. It’s going to take me some time to adjust.”

“No worries. Just try to take it out on the grease stains, not me.”

Adora agreed and went back to scrubbing the flat top. The diner was still empty so Catra decided to continue her attempts at conversation.

“So chef, where’d you learn to cook?”

“Prime Culinary Academy.” At the terse answer, Catra knew she was going to have to work harder to drag any more details out of Adora.

“Is that in the city? I thought you went to college or something.”

“Yeah, it’s here. And yeah, I went to college for a bit but it...didn’t work out.” Adora paused, jaw clenched, for a moment before continuing. “So I ended up going to cooking school instead. I always liked cooking and it seemed like a good option. Prime is really well connected in the city and I got a job at Shadow as soon as I finished.”

The image of high school jock Adora roasting a chicken tickled Catra, but she had no idea what Shadow was and just stared quizzically back at Adora while asking, “Shadow?”

“The only Michelin-starred restaurant city?” More staring.

“Three month reservation waitlist? Four hundred dollar prix fixe menu?” Catra shook her head. No recognition.

“Award winning sommelier?”

“Okay, saying a bunch of words in French is not going to make me magically realize what you’re talking about, Adora. But I get it, you worked at a fancy ass restaurant. What happened?”

“It was really great at first, but the chef was...challenging. She had really high expectations and she...”

“Just say she was a bitch.” Adora seemed uncomfortable with the language but Catra could tell she was right.

“Anyway. I got fired.” Adora returned to furiously scrubbing the already-sparkling flat top as she admitted this.

“Whoa, shit. Why? And give your forearms a rest, Mr. Clean. I think you’re done polishing.” Catra tried to gently pat Adora on the shoulder to reassure her, but she flinched away from Catra’s touch, and then moved an extra couple steps away. But she also continued with her story.

“It’s nothing that dramatic. I guess I was tired of kissing her ass, and she was chewing me out before service one night and I snapped. I walked out in the middle of it. I was planning on coming back after I cooled down, but when I did, she fired me. It’s pretty cutthroat in those kinds of kitchens and there’s always someone waiting to take your spot if you’re not perfect.”

“Damn. Is that why you got wasted the other night.”

“I wish.”

Catra raised her eyebrow, inviting Adora to continue. Catra was hanging on her words. This was the most exciting conversation she’d had at work in a long time. Who knew that the golden child of Etheria High would have taken such a wild turn after graduating. Adora was still tense but she now looked significantly more embarrassed about whatever she was about to say.

“No, I had gotten fired about a week before that. I got dumped the night I got wasted.”

“I knew it!” Okay, maybe that came out a little too gleefully. Adora glared at Catra and Catra realized her tone had definitely not landed. She tried to recover without sounding like such a jerk. “You can’t blame me for trying to guess what happened, right? And getting dumped was the most obvious choice. Anyway, that really sucks. I’m sorry you got dumped. You really got fired and then a week later you got dumped? So what happened?”

“Wow, you really don’t hold back, do you?” Cranky Adora was definitely back.

“Too personal?”

Adora grumbled to herself a little bit and Catra was almost about to let it go when she started talking. “She told me she didn’t think we were heading in the same direction, that we didn’t want the same things, that she was looking for someone with more ambition.” Catra thought she saw the tiniest hint of a tear welling up in the corner of Adora’s eye. God, please don’t start crying. But then the pieces of Adora’s story started to fall in place for Catra.

“Hold up, did she dump you _because_ you got fired.” 

“I mean, she didn’t say that, but yeah, it kinda feels like it.”

“Ooof, low blow. I hope you were drinking in anger, not because you were sad because she sounds like a piece of shit.”

“Don’t say that.” Of course Adora, as cranky she was, is too nice to talk badly about her ex. Catra wondered what it would take to dig out her true feelings. Lucky for Catra there wasn’t much besides prep work and talking to look forward to during their shifts together. She’d get the dirt eventually. And Adora’s tears seemed to averted at the moment.

“Hey, I just call ‘em like I see ‘em. How long were you together?”

“Three years.”

“Okay, so that actually is pretty significant. But I still maintain, she sounds terrible.”

“Can we talk about something else?” Adora was getting frustrated so Catra backed off.

“Sure, fine, whatever you want.”

“What about you?” Adora offered.

“What about me?” 

“Are you seeing anyone?”

“Why honey, you interested?” Catra teased with a wink. Adora flustered at the insinuation, which Catra _loved._ Teasing this poor mess was too easy. 

“What? No! I literally just had my heart broken,” Adora grumbled, thought Catra thought she glimpsed the tiniest hint of a smile. “I just figured, I dumped my whole mess, I should get to know about you in return.”

“Okay, that’s fair. I am currently, and permanently, unattached.” Catra poured herself a cup of coffee while she waited for Adora’s reaction. Adora seemed to think about it for a moment.

“Permanently?”

“I don’t date.” Her tone was definitive. She took a long sip of coffee.

“Why? Don’t you get lonely?”

“I didn’t say that I don’t have fun. But look at you. You got attached and then what? Heartbreak. No thank you. I’m doing just fine on my own.” Catra hadn’t had a serious relationship in...well, ever. Sometimes she blamed it on her weird hours, sometimes on her high standards, but in reality it was probably because she just didn’t care to try. And what she said was true, why risk the heartbreak? Because relationships always ended in heartbreak.

Adora seemed unconvinced by Catra’s attempt at steely bravado. Her eyes turned a little sad and Catra guessed she must be thinking back to her breakup. Catra instantly felt bad and tried to recover. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to tease you about it. How about this. I’ll teach you how to forget about your ex, and when I meet the woman of my dreams, you can teach me how to want to stay with her.” 

Adora looked amused at the proposal. She stared at Catra for a moment before cautiously replying, “You think it’s that easy?”

“Oh please, I’m an expert.” Catra was also desperate to change the topic. Adora’s recent troubles might have been on full display all night but Catra was not about to unload hers. “Anyway this topic is absolutely too much for four in the morning. Tell me about pancakes.” 

“What?”

“You’re a diner cook now, so drop your pancake philosophy on me. Super fluffy? Thin and buttery? Any dealbreaker toppings? Buckwheat? I know you have thoughts.” As they spent the next forty-five minutes debating, Adora’s mood significantly brightened. They actually argued at length about whether or not a dutch baby should be included in the pancake family and by the end of the shift, Adora had whipped one up and Catra was beginning to come around to her point of view.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Truly shocked at the response this fic got after chapter 1, and I hope this continues to live up to expectations!
> 
> Let me know what you think here or drop a line on twitter @okegihshigeko


	3. blues, stay away from me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora bakes a pie

On Adora’s third night working at the diner, Catra walked in on her sniffling over the deep fryer. Adora tried to hide it when she heard Catra behind her, but she was obviously a mess and there was no hiding the tracks of her tears running down her cheeks. Catra, not usually one to jump willingly into the role of emotional support, nevertheless scrambled to think of something to say to break the tension.

“So, I know crying at work after a breakup a lesbian tradition, but I can’t have you sprinkling your sadness all over the food. It’s depressing enough here.” Adora frowned. Maybe sarcasm wasn’t the move. Catra tried again. “Sorry, joking, go ahead and cry as much as you want. Do you want to, like, talk about it?” Catra prayed Adora would say no.

“Ugh, no,” Adora groaned. “I don’t even want to think about it. Even for just like ten minutes.” Catra could work with that. 

“Alright, well, it’s really dead in here right now, and I doubt we’ll have many more customers until the morning crowd starts rolling in. What do you think our menu is missing? Make me something.”

Adora thought for a moment. Then she disappeared into the walk-in fridge and returned with a block of butter and crate of berries. “Can you believe,” she said, as she started grabbing bowls and flour and other things from around the kitchen, “that Huntara  _ buys _ the pies that she sells here from some other bakery? I couldn’t believe it when I found out. That must be some kind of diner sin. Like what even is a diner that doesn’t make their pies in house? What’s the point?!” The true outrage on Adora’s face as she ranted made Catra laugh. 

“You’re making me a pie?” she asked.

“Well hopefully you don’t eat the whole thing yourself, but yes.”

“We’ll see, that depends on how good it is.” Catra did like a good slice of pie, and she agreed with Adora that it was pretty disappointing that the Brightmoon Diner didn’t serve home made pies. “So,” she continued, “did you minor in diner food at cooking school or something? You’ve got some pretty strong opinions on this.”

Adora scoffed and took Catra’s question way too seriously. “The Horde Academy was too fancy to have a short order cook specialty. I earned  _ le grande dipl _ _ ô _ _ me _ , which combines cuisine and patisserie.”

“Are you fucking serious?  _ Le grande dipl _ _ ô _ _ me _ ?” Catra cracked up, practically doubling over in laughter. “It’s ridiculous that you’re working here. I’m sure there’s a ton of restaurants in the city you could work at that would be better than this dump.”

“Ok, first of all, this diner is not a dump.”

“True. I only call it that with the utmost affection.”

“And second, I don’t want to work in fancy restaurants anymore. At least not for a while.”

“Alright, I buy that. So now that I know this pie is being baked by a grand master iron chef, my expectations have been raised.”

“Well there’s nothing professional about this pie. My grandma taught me how to bake when I was little and this is our secret family berry pie recipe.” The image of a tiny Adora, covered in flour and rolling out a pie crust flooded into Catra mind.

"Aww,” Catra cooed and immediately slapped her hand over her mouth in embarrassment. Adora laughed, which only made Catra blush more.

“Wow, I’ve never heard you make such a cute noise before.”

“Ugh. That was not cute. I don’t  _ do _ cute.” Catra tried to regain her composure. At least her shameful slip-up seemed to have made Adora forget about being sad. “Forget that ever happened and focus on your pie,  _ chef _ .”

Adora nodded, still laughing, as she cut an obscene amount of butter into a bowl of flour. She told Catra about her Grandma Razz as she made the dough, laughing at memories of the old woman’s goofy costume jewelry and caftans, and her propensity for smacking people with her broom if they tracked dirt across her kitchen floor. Eventually the pie crust got divided into discs and wrapped in plastic to chill in the fridge and Adora moved on to the filling. Catra kept asking about the spices and other ingredients but Adora claimed it was all a family secret and she was forbidden from sharing. By the time Adora was rolling out the crust, her stories about Razz had faded into more general memories of her childhood and her mom, Mara. When they were in high school, Catra had never known much about Adora’s family. She had assumed it was a picture perfect suburban dream but it was clear that Adora’s childhood had been less traditional than she realized.

After popping the pie into the oven, Adora tried to ask Catra questions about her childhood in return, but Catra deflected, saying only that she grew up in foster care and there wasn’t much to talk about. It seemed like they had finally run out childhood memories to chat about and they sat sipping coffee and listening to the music play softly through the empty diner.

“How long does it bake for?” Catra was looking forward to her slice.

“Probably twenty more minutes. But then it has to cool a little.”

“No! Seriously?” Catra could already smell the pie and the wait was going to kill her.

“Yes. The filling’s going to be like molten lava when I take it out.”

“I don’t care, I want my pie.”

“You won’t even be able to taste it if you burn your mouth.”

“I’ll make whatever choices I want with my mouth, thank you very much.”

Before the argument could go any farther, the bell above the door rang out, announcing a new customer. Catra and Adora both leaned through the kitchen window to see who had wandered in so late at night. A tall blonde in impeccable makeup, a shimmering green bodysuit and go-go boots slid onto a seat at the counter.

“Who is that?” Adora whispered.

“It’s just Double Trouble. They host the drag show at the gay bar down the street. They’re a regular.” Double Trouble was one of Catra’s few friends and Crimson Waste, the bar where they worked, was one of the few places Catra went to drink.

Double Trouble rolled their eyes and sighed. “Are you two just going to spy on me from the kitchen, or can I get a cup of coffee?” Catra grabbed a carafe of coffee and headed out of the kitchen.

“Sorry if it’s stale, DT. It’s been a slow night. I can make another pot if you want.”

“No need, kitten. This is fine. Who’s the new meathead in the kitchen?” Adora was still leaning against the service window, but quickly disappeared farther into the kitchen when she heard DT ask about her.

“That’s Adora. She just started a couple of nights ago. Adora, come meet to Double Trouble.” Adora emerged from the kitchen and made her way over to the counter. Double Trouble made a show of sizing her up, scanning her from head to toe and nodding approvingly.

“Pleasure to meet you, Adora. I was about to ask our kitten here why she hasn’t been by the bar lately but I think I know the answer now,” they said with a mischievous sparkle in their eyes. Adora looked to Catra in confusion, and Catra glared back at Double Trouble. Catra could tell instantly where this line of teasing was going and she jumped to put a stop to it as quickly as possible.

“Oh stop it, DT. I came to your show like two weeks ago and there are about a million other places I’d rather spend my nights off than the Crimson Waste. Do you want anything else besides coffee tonight?”

“Just your company. Although, something does smell good.” The pie’s aroma had permeated the diner.

“Adora’s baking me a pie. Maybe if you’re nice, I’ll let you have a slice.”

“Actually, I should go check on it,” Adora said, scurrying back into the kitchen.

“Well she certainly is an interesting addition to the night crew,” Double Trouble, low enough that Adora couldn’t hear from the kitchen. “It can’t hurt to have some eye candy around here.”

“Shh,” Catra hissed. “And anyway, that is  _ not _ happening. She just got dumped and she’s really fucked up about it. Plus, I told her I would help her get over it. And we went to high school together. So, not happening.”

“Ooo, drama. I love it.”

“Ugh, of course you do.”

“I know of one sure-fire way you could help her get over it…”

Adora reemerged from the kitchen, pie in hand, cutting Catra and Double Trouble’s whispering short. The pie was beautiful. Golden brown flaky lattice across the top, filling still bubbling lightly as steam escaped through the braiding, and a heavenly aroma of butter and berries. Catra’s mouth started watering as Adora set the pie down on the counter. 

“Slice, now!” Catra demanded, reaching for a knife.

“Back off,” snapped Adora, slapping Catra’s hand away from the knife block. “It has to cool!”

“So you just brought it out here to torture us?”

“I thought you would want to see it as soon as I took it out of the oven.”

Double Trouble was laughing to themself over the whole exchange. “Clearly you haven’t learned yet that our kitten is not known for her patience.”

“Shut up, DT. I know you want a slice as badly as I do.”

“Well both of you are going to have to wait at least 15 minutes.” Adora was firm. Catra groaned. DT took the opportunity to pry.

“While we wait, I hear that you’re recently single, Adora.” Adora’s good spirits immediately dropped and Catra glared at Double Trouble for the second time that night.

“The whole point of baking the pie was to take her mind off of it, DT. What the hell?”

“Relax, kitten, I wasn’t being mean. All I was going to say is that you should bring Adora by the bar and I can debut her to the community. Plus, my show this week should be extra fabulous, we have some queens from out of town performing. I’ll even throw in free drinks. I also know a certain bartender who’s been asking about you, kitten.” Catra cringed at that last comment, but it actually wasn’t a bad idea. She had no idea if Adora liked drag shows but DT’s show was always packed and usually a good time. And the show would give them something to focus on instead of just sitting around in the bar on a regular night and trying to make small talk.

“What do you think, Adora? We’re both off on Thursday.”

“I don’t know how I feel about being  _ debuted _ . I feel like you’re going to parade me around the bar.” Adora looked a little nervous but she was clearly considering it.

“Nobody’s going to ‘parade you around.’ DT’s just being dramatic.”

“Oh, I would love to parade her around. Just look at her.” DT winked ostentatiously at Catra. Catra just rolled her eyes. They were going to be the death of her. Maybe this idea was actually bad. She turned back to Adora, who was blushing a little at Double Trouble’s teasing.

“If you come, I promise to not let Double Trouble do anything too embarrassing.”

“Okay, I’ll think about it. And you can have pie now, I think it’s cooled enough. Do you want ice cream too?”

“Obviously.”

Adora served up three slices of pie and Catra and Double Trouble both let out a collective groan of pleasure at the first taste.

“What the fuck, Adora. This is the best pie I’ve ever had.” 

“Truly, this is divine,” Double Trouble added.

“Huntara’s going to flip her shit when she tries this.”

“You really think so?” Adora seemed genuinely excited about how well the pie turned out. As if she didn’t have a certification in  _ patisserie _ , Catra thought to herself. Did she really not know how good her pie was?

“Absolutely. She’s crazy if she doesn’t make you bake all the pies from here on out.”

When the trio finished up their pies, Double Trouble paid their tab and headed home. The rest of the shift was uneventful but the time passed quickly and Catra noticed Adora didn’t seem as sad as she had at the start of the night, so mission accomplished. The only problem she had left to solve was how she was going to steal the rest of the pie at the end of her shift.

When Huntara arrived, Catra was quick to brag on Adora’s behalf. She forced her boss to try to pie and just as she suspected, Huntara agreed on the spot that Adora should bake pies for the diner. There was more than enough time during the slow night shift and the difference between Adora’s pie and the ones Huntara had been serving was astronomical. And Adora beamed at the opportunity to put her spin on the diner’s menu, even if it was only the dessert.

Adora was in the best mood Catra had seen so far as they walked to their cars at the end of their shift. She looked more like the Adora Catra remembered from high school, happy and bouncing through the halls surrounded by friends. She turned to Catra as they reached their cars and said she was in, she’d go to the show on Thursday, as long as Catra promised to keep Double Trouble from doing anything too embarrassing. Catra agreed as she slipped into her car, a single piece of pie hidden under her coat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone for reading! The title for this chapter comes from the Delmore Brothers, known for their high and tight harmonies, but the song that was basically on repeat while I wrote this and sets a better vibe for the chapter is actually "Turned Out I Was Everyone" by SASAMI
> 
> Anyway, happy to have your feedback and I hope you're excited for Adora and Catra's night at DT's drag show ✌️


	4. searching (for someone like you)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra and Adora hit up Double Trouble's drag show at the Crimson Waste

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never intended for any scenes in this story to take place outside of the diner but Adora really wanted to go to to the drag show, so here we are.

They agreed to meet at the diner and walk over to the Crimson Waste on the day of the drag show. The show doesn’t start until 10:30 but Catra suggested that they get there early, before the place fills up. There was still a faint glow of late summer sun on the horizon over the waterfront when they met at 9:00. Adora was leaning against the hood of her car when Catra pulled into the parking lot, wearing jeans and a white t-shirt that highlighted aspects of her physique (ahem, shoulders, biceps,  _ et cetera... _ not that Catra was looking) that her chef’s jacket apparently hid. She had a red bomber jacket slung over her shoulder. Catra leaned out her window and whistled as she pulled into the spot next to Adora.

“Ok, James Dean, this whole greaser thing you have going on looks good on you” she teased as she climbed out of her car. The fact that her own black leather jacket paired pretty perfectly with Adora’s whole deal was not lost on her, but she chose not to dwell on it. It’s not like they were going out  _ together _ together.

“It’s kind of weird to see you this early in the evening,” Adora said as they started their walk to the bar. “I feel like you only exist when it’s completely dark out.”

“Honestly, it’s kind of weird for me to be out this early. Once I started the night shift I just stuck with it.”

“Do you go to this bar a lot?”

“No, not really. Maybe once a month, and only if DT begs me. They’re actually pretty fun to hang out with when they don’t have an audience. But don’t be surprised if they try to pull some ridiculous shit tonight. I can tell they’re planning something.”

Adora cringed. Catra wasn’t sure what to expect but she knew to expect  _ something _ from DT. They walked in silence for a while and then Adora somewhat sheepishly thanked Catra for inviting her out. “I mean, you barely know me and it seems like you’re going through a lot of effort to cheer me up.”

“Pff, what? Get over yourself, Adora. This is not because I like you. This is purely self interest. I just can’t stand to work another night with a weepy grouch.”

Adora laughed. “Yeah, whatever Catra. Just let me say thank you.”

“We’ll see if you’re still thanking me by the end of the night. You’ve never been to the Crimson Waste before.”

From the outside, the Crimson Waste looked like any other dive bar, with the addition of a few rainbow flags hanging from a rickety second floor balcony. There were definitely hipper gay bars in the city but the Crimson Waste, divey as it was, had a welcoming vibe that the shinier clubs lacked. There were some people milling around in front of the bar, smoking and joking around. A couple nodded in recognition of Catra as she and Adora strolled past but she just nodded back and didn’t stop to chat. After checking their IDs the bouncer waved them into the bar’s dark interior.

Catra’s eyes quickly adjusted and she spotted Double Trouble leaning against the bar, already dressed in full drag. Adora seemed to still be stumbling blindly in the dim lighting so Catra grabbed her hand and dragged her towards the bar. Double Trouble lit up when they noticed them approaching.

“Catra, baby, you came!” DT swept her up in an overly dramatic hug and kissed her cheek. “Ooo, and you brought Chef Boyardee with you too. Fabulous.” 

DT extended a hand to Adora, who grasped it gingerly. DT smirked and extended their hand, still held by Adora’s, towards Adora’s lips, apparently waiting for a kiss, as if Adora was greeting royalty. Adora, in somewhat of a panic, quickly kissed DT’s knuckles and dropped their hand.

“Thank you, darling,” DT said with a wink. Catra just rolled her eyes.

“I believe we were promised drinks? Looks like you’ve already had a few.”

“Oh calm down kitten, I’m just having some fun. And yes, drinks are on me tonight. Order whatever you want. And speaking of my show, I better go check on those queens, make sure they’re ready to go. I’ll see you two later.” With that, Double Trouble disappeared behind a dark velvet curtain near the small stage at one side of the bar.

“Are they always like that?” Adora asked.

“They’re especially insufferable on drag night. We probably won’t see them again until after the show, so let’s just get some drinks and find a place to sit.”

They found a small table near the stage and settled in. The bar still wasn’t too crowded but it was loud and people were starting to flow in and Catra was glad they got a table. The last thing she wanted to deal with was being smashed up against some drunk in the back of the room when the show started. She scooted her chair around the small round table so she could sit close enough to Adora to talk about over the music.

They drank in silence for a bit while Adora took in the surroundings. The Crimson Waste was a pretty standard trashy, gay bar. On the opposite side of the bar from the stage was a well-worn dance floor and lewd artwork of torsos lined the walls. A faint smell of stale beer seemed to permeate everything.

“So,” Catra started. “See anything you like?”

Adora looked at her confusion. “Anything I like?”

“Ladies, obviously. This is part of my whole project to help you get over your ex.”

“Catra! I’m not hooking up with someone tonight.” Adora looked absolutely scandalized at the idea and Catra just laughed. 

“Who said anything about hooking up? Just start easy. Some flirting, maybe a dance, whatever. This is just to remind you that there are other fish in the sea. That’s like step one in getting over someone.”

Adora still seemed lost.

“Okay, let me help you ease into this. What’s your type?”

“Uhh,” Adora thought for a little bit. “I don’t know...I haven’t really dated a lot, or like at all. Except for my ex.”

“Yeah...okay, you haven’t dated a lot but you have eyes. Look around.” There were enough people in the bar by now that there must be at least somebody that Adora was into, but getting any details out of her was like pulling teeth. It seemed like Adora was paying more attention to her than the rest of the bar. Catra decided to change tactics. “Alright, maybe this will be easier if we start with people we know in common. What about in high school? Who did you think was cute?”

It was dark in the bar but Catra could tell Adora was blushing. “Who did I think I was cute?”

“Yeah, dummy, did you have a crush on anyone?”

“Um, you mean besides you?”

“Oh haha, Adora, very funny.” Catra rolled her eyes but when she looked back at Adora, she got the feeling Adora wasn’t joking. “Wait, are you serious?” Adora took a long, nervous swig of her beer. “Wow, that is so embarrassing for you.”

Adora downed the rest of her beer before sheepishly answering. “I mean, it wasn’t like a major thing or whatever. I just thought you were so cool and, like, a little scary? I almost died when we had to do that history project together. I was so nervous every time we met up to work on it.”

“Okay, this is literally blowing my mind. We barely even talked in high school.” 

“I mean, I tried to talk to you all the time but you never let me.” Could that be true? Catra doubted it. She frowned and finished her drink.

“We need another round for this. I’ll be right back.” She jumped up and headed to the bar to process the frankly  _ insane _ admission Adora had just made. Catra had spent the entirety of high school assuming everyone thought she was a loser. She had almost no friends and spent as little time on campus as possible, so the idea that Adora, one of the most popular kids at the school, had had a crush on her was absurd. The more Catra thought about it, the more likely it seemed like Adora probably only had a crush on her because she was one of the only other out lesbians at their school. Plus that was high school. Years ago.

When she returned to their table, she passed Adora a fresh beer and set two shots of tequila down between them.“I think we need these before we continue.” She picked up one shot and waited for Adora to do the same. “Salud,” she toasted and clinked her shot against Adora’s before tossing it down. Adora followed suit, her face crinkling up adorably as the shot went down. Once the burn in her throat subsided, Catra laughed and continued, “So, we’ve established two facts about you.”

“What?”

“One, you’re an idiot, and two, you have terrible taste in women.”

“What?!”

“It’s a small sample size, but we already know that your ex is trash and I’m obviously a dumpster fire, so you’re batting a thousand on bad decisions. Therefore, you’re an idiot and you have terrible taste in women.”

Adora was sputtering to come up with a response when the lights in the bar dimmed, the music stopped, and a spotlight appeared on the stage. Double Trouble’s show was starting.

“I hope you brought cash,” Catra whispered into Adora’s ear as the show started. Of course she had not brought cash, so Catra slid a few fives across the small table for Adora to tip the drag queens with. And maybe it was just because their table was center stage, or maybe it was because DT had tipped the performers off, but every single drag queen made a point to stop and do something, some extra flourish or hip shake, directly at Adora. Adora ate it up and dutifully tipped every queen. Catra cackled at how dorky she looked tucking bills into fake cleavage and beaded bikini bottoms, glad to know it was possible for Adora to lighten up a little.

Double Trouble returned to the stage after the first round of performances to do a little crowd work. They cracked some jokes at a cute but very drunk couple’s expense and flirted with some of the more handsome audience members before pausing and bringing the spotlight back onto themself.

“Alright, I have a special announcement for all the lesbians in the crowd. Lesbians? Are you out there?” A drunken cheer rose up across the bar. “Wonderful.”

Double Trouble descended slowly down the steps at the front to the stage and made their way to Catra and Adora’s table. When they arrived, they reached down and dragged Adora up and back onto the stage. Adora’s face, no, her whole body, flushed a deep red as the spotlight illuminated her and DT. 

“Lesbians, I want to introduce you to this absolute snack, my new friend Adora.” Another drunken cheer, and a few whistles, rang out. Adora looked mortified. DT then literally  _ paraded _ (the exact thing Catra promised to protect her from) Adora across the stage and continued their monologue.

“I know that half of your drunk asses eventually end up down the street at the Brightmoon Diner on nights like this, am I right? Well Adora here is the night shift cook and if you show up when she’s working, I’m sure she will be more than happy to feed you in  _ whatever _ way you need. I’ve seen her in the kitchen, and she is  _ very _ good with her hands.”

The crowd was whooping and cheering at every one of DT’s innuendos. Adora was trying to cover her face but DT grasped both her hands in one of theirs as they sashayed across the stage.

“The sad thing is, she’s recently had her heart broken and all I want for her is to see her back on her feet. So ladies, please do your best to keep Adora’s drink full and don’t be stingy with those numbers.” Another huge cheer rang out through the bar. Double Trouble started to wrap up their scene. “And one more thing, don’t pay any attention to the angry kitten sitting with Adora, I have it on good authority that any jealousy you might  _ think _ you see is just an illusion.” Double Trouble blew a kiss at Catra, spun Adora around and pushed her back toward her table. “You’ll thank me later, darling!”

Adora stumbled through the cheering crowd and barely made it back to her seat before she collapsed with a groan and buried her head in her hands. “Catra, what the hell! You promised they wouldn’t do something like that! It’s good I was already half drunk when they pulled me up there or I might have passed out.” Her voice was muffled through her hands but Catra could tell she was dying with embarrassment.

“I swear, Adora, I had no idea DT was going to do that.” At first, Catra sounded genuinely apologetic but then she remembered how hilariously awkward Adora had looked when DT had twirled her around on the stage and she couldn’t help but laugh. “You have to admit, it was a pretty good bit. DT knows what they’re doing.”

Adora just groaned some more as the drag show continued. When the show wrapped a while later, the crowd started to migrate from the stage area to the dance floor and Catra couldn’t help but notice the many eyes drifting in Adora’s direction. Catra also noticed Double Trip slip out from backstage and decided to give Adora and her new admirers so room to breathe.

“I’m going to go give DT some shit for what they just pulled. Do you want anything from the bar?” Catra asked as she got up from the table. Adora just shook her head. Not that it mattered, since there was already a woman with a pair of beers ready swoop in and take Catra’s seat. Catra made a point to roll her eyes at the woman as they passed each other.

“So,” Double Trouble started as Catra slid onto a stool next to them at the bar. “What did our chef think of the show?”

“You’re lucky she didn’t pass out or throw up on stage. You know I promised her you wouldn’t do something like that.”

“How could I resist, kitten? I mean, look at her. She’s delicious. The crowd loved it.” 

“Yeah,  _ the crowd _ loved it. But Adora looked pretty mortified.”

“What’s the point of hosting a drag show if I can’t mortify some of the guests on stage? Plus, look and see.” Double Troubled nodded towards Adora, where a different woman was shamelessly flirting with her. “Our scheme seems to be working perfectly. Oh, unless that wasn’t actually the plan?” DT looked smirked at Catra.

Catra just grumbled and ordered herself another drink. Double Trouble launched into some other unrelated gossip that Catra half-heartedly pretended to listen to while she watched Adora continue to talk with yet another woman. Adora periodically looked over and smiled at Catra and DT and each time Catra would raise her glass back in reply. By the time a fifth woman found a seat at the tiny table, Catra decided she had enough. Plus, it was after one and the bar would doing last call soon. It was time to leave. She tossed the rest of her drink back and headed towards Adora.

When she reached the table, Adora and her admirers fell silent. She suddenly felt awkward but forged ahead nonetheless. She looked straight at Adora, ignoring everyone else at the table and announced, “I’m going to head back now.” She paused to see how Adora would respond, but no response came, so she tried again, with more intention. “Do you want to come with, or are you good here?”

Adora was clearly drunk. She stood up way too abruptly and wobbled a little before replying, “Oh, yeah, no, um, I’ll come with you. Yeah.” Then she turned to the table. “Everybody this is my, uh, this is, uh, this is my Catra. Wait, no. My  _ friend _ Catra.”

“Ok, clearly somebody should have cut you off earlier.” Catra started to steer Adora through the maze of tiny bar tables, bidding goodnight to the women she’d just plucked Adora away from. They made their way out to the street and started the short walk back to the diner parking lot. Adora seemed to be humming the song that was playing as they left and Catra was happy to avoid talking about the women Adora had met, so they just walked quietly. When they reached the diner, Catra insisted that neither of them were in shape to drive home and suggested coffee. Adora agreed and so they settled into a booth to sober up.

Adora eventually broke the silence. “You were wrong before.”

“When?”

“You’re not a dumpster fire.”

“Oh god, Adora, let it go.”

“No seriously, you were like the best person there tonight. And you’ve been so nice to me since I started here. I’m the dumpster fire. You’re really great.”

“You’re drunk Adora. You should be in bed. I’m calling Rogelio to take us both home.” Catra could tell it was mostly the alcohol talking but Adora’s compliments made her flush a little. Adora, thankfully, was too drunk to notice. She texted Rogelio and he was there in ten minutes. Catra hauled a very sleepy Adora out to the curb as his cab pulled up.

“Hey, do you mind taking us both? We drop her off first and then you can drop me at home.” He nodded and they slid into the back of the cab. “Hey, Adora,” Catra, “Where do you live? Rogelio’s going to drop you first.”

“Huh? Oh, I’m at the Sunset Motel. On Second Street.”

“You’re living at a motel? You know what, nevermind. But we’re going to talk about this next shift.” Catra leaned up into the front of the cab and passed the destination on to the driver. When they arrived at the motel, Catra and Rogelio waited until they were certain Adora made it to her room and then headed to Catra’s place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you have it, we've officially lit the wick on the slow burn candle. Let's see how long it burns for.
> 
> Chapter title is Kitty Wells song.
> 
> Get ready for the first appearance of the rest of the best friends squad in the next chapter!
> 
> Thanks to everyone for reading! Love your feedback and I'm happy to hear from you on my twitter @okegihshigeko


	5. you ain't woman enough

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra begrudgingly helps Adora resolve her living situation

On their next shift, Catra was able to hold back until Adora was finishing rolling out the crusts for the pies she was making before bringing up the motel situation. It was only just after midnight and there were a few customers in the diner at the time, but they had all been served and could be left unattended for a bit. Catra ducked into the kitchen and demanded outright, “Okay, so what’s the deal with the skeezy motel?”

Adora looks up from the prep table, hands and forearms covered in flour, with a confused look. “Uh, I’m staying there right now?”

“Yeah, okay, but like permanently? Or what? That place looked like a complete shithole.”

“Wow, don’t hold back. Jeez.”

Catra just stared, eyebrows cocked in judgement, waiting for an answer.

“Okay, fine. When my ex broke things off, I didn’t have anywhere to go, so I ended up there because it’s cheap and you can pay by the week.”

“Adora, that was like weeks ago.”

“It was barely three weeks ago.”

“More than enough time to find a new place. Are you even looking?”

“Yeah, kinda. I’ve started, but like, it wasn’t really top priority?” Adora gathered up the unfilled crusts and took them to the walk-in to chill. Catra watched and waited, because they were not done discussing Adora’s abysmal living situation. When Adora returned and started wiping off the prep table, Catra jumped right back in.

“What could be a higher priority than getting the fuck out of that nasty motel?”

“I don’t know, finding a job, getting high and binge watching cartoons, crying myself to sleep...you know, break up stuff?” Adora was laughing while she said this, but Catra suspected there was a little too much truth underlying the joke. But at least Adora wasn’t so far gone that she couldn’t dunk on herself, and three weeks actually wasn’t that long considering the length of the relationship.

“Ugh, so cliche,” Catra groaned. “You need to move from the crying stage to something more exciting. Revenge? Rebound?”

“I kind of like wallowing.”

“Well you should at least do it in your own apartment, not in some shitty motel room. Otherwise it’s too pathetic. It looks like a cry for help. She’s going to think you’re waiting for her to take you back.”

“Maybe it is a cry for help. Maybe this is me crying for you to help me find a new apartment.”

“Wow. No. I am more than happy to read you and your bad life choices to filth but I am not apartment hunting with you. You’re a big girl, you can find one yourself.”

“Damn, I thought that might work.”

“Think again, dummy.” Catra left to check on her tables. A new couple had grabbed a booth in the back corner, and when Catra arrived to take their order she couldn’t help but overhear their very loud conversation.

“Bowwww! Just post it! We’ve been editing it all day and if we don’t post it now, we’re never going to find a roommate before the first. And then what?! We’ll be broke as fuck and we’ll never be able to afford the Taylor Swift tickets that go on sale on the 10th.”

“Glimmer! The ad has to be perfect or else we’re going to end up with some creepy serial killer. And you know that I’ve been budgeting for this exact scenario, there is no way we’re missing out on those tickets.”

Catra stood impatiently next to the table as they argued. Eventually she’d had enough and cut in. “Hey! I have a very strict NO SWITFIES policy in my diner and you two are really testing my limit. If you don’t order something pronto, I’m definitely going to throw you both out.”

The guy, Bow, looked horrified and apologetic but  _ Glitter _ or whatever the hell her name was looked utterly offended. “Excuse me? What about  _ customer service _ ? You can’t threaten to throw us out and then expect us to tip well.” Her aggressive rudeness contrasted absurdly with her pink and purple hair and glittery eyeshadow, and Catra frankly found it impossible to take her seriously.

“Honey, I work the graveyard shift at a diner. Tips are not a priority.”

Glimmer just glared back at Catra while Bow’s attention nervously flipped back and forth between the two women. He eventually broke the tension by asking Catra for a few minutes while they looked over the menu. She agreed and retreated to the kitchen.

Adora was slicing up a pile of apples for one of the pies and, again, Catra could not help but watch the speed at which Adora’s knife flew through the apples. “Do you ever worry about losing a finger?”

“Huh?” Adora asked, her laser focus broken by Catra’s abrupt question. “Oh, no. I mean, I have sliced myself pretty badly but that was back when I was first learning.” Adora held her very large hand up to Catra’s face, showing off a battery of scars, burns and calluses on her fingers and palm. “Every chef has pretty fucked up hands.”

_ Great,  _ Catra thought,  _ now I’m going to be thinking about her stupid hands all night _ . She needed to change the subject, and fast, because Adora’s hands did not need to occupy any space in her mind. Her mind, like her actual apartment, was a tiny studio space that almost nobody was granted entry to and Adora’s hands needed to stay the hell out if Catra was going to be able to work with her night after night. She knocked Adora’s hand out of her face and pointed out into the diner.

“There’s a couple of idiots out there looking for a roommate. They seem terrible but maybe you should talk to them.”

“Really? Which ones?” Adora leaned through the service window to survey the diner.

“Crop top and sparkles in the corner.”

The pair were still bickering loudly.

While Adora spied, Catra furiously scrolled through her playlists looking for something to rebalance the vibes of the diner. “I swear to god if they don’t shut up about Taylor Swift…” 

Adora perked up and exclaimed, “I love Taylor Swift!”

“Of fucking course you do.” Catra finally decided it was still early enough in the shift for a rockabilly playlist, and queued up  _ The Fool _ by Stanford Clark. “I’m going to go take their order. Do you want me to ask them about the room?”

“Yeah, see if you can get some more info.”

“You seriously owe me,” she grumbled as she exited the kitchen. The couple paused their discussion when Catra arrived at their table, clearly ready to take their order. Bow got a short stack with eggs over easy and Glimmer just got a basket of onion rings. After they ordered, Catra casually mentioned that she overheard they were looking for a roommate. Glimmer’s eyes narrowed suspiciously but Bow lit up and enthusiastically confirmed that they needed to find a new roommate by the end of the week.

“Don’t worry sparkles, it’s not for me. Our new cook is looking for a place. I’ll send her out with the food and you can meet her.”

“Wait,” Bow gasped. “Is it  _ Adora _ ?”

“Uhh…do you know Adora?”

“No, but we were at the Crimson Waste last night and we saw her on stage with Double Trouble. That’s why we’re here! Well, that and we heard that this place has started serving pie that is to die for.”

“Well she’s putting some fresh pies in the oven as we speak so if you sit around long enough, maybe you’ll get a roommate and a warm slice. I’ll tell her that her fan girls have arrived.”

“Oh, we are definitely staying, right Glimmer?!”

“Sure, fine.” Glimmer still looked suspicious of Catra. Catra blew her off. She had no time for pretty pink princesses throwing hissy fits in her diner. She returned to the kitchen to relay the orders and info.

“I don’t know Adora, they seem pretty annoying.”

“Well, it seems to me like you think everyone is annoying. I’m going to give them a chance. I mean, it’s perfect right? Like fate.”

Catra just rolled her eyes and returned to check back in with her tables. When Adora finished Bow and Glimmer’s order, she ran them out to the table herself and spent a good twenty minutes chatting animatedly with them. Catra had to cut in and drag Adora back to the kitchen to prepare new orders.

“So? What do you think?”

“It’s perfect. They seem amazing, I can afford it, it’s not that far from here, and I can move in as soon as I want.”

“I guess moving in with two dorky randos is still better than that shithole you’re in right now.”

“They’re not dorky.”

Catra just stared at Adora. Like, come on. 

“Okay, but compared to you, everyone is dorky.”

“True. I’m glad you recognize that.”

Bow and Glimmer stayed long enough to get piping hot slices of apple pie. Adora spent most of her downtime while they were there at their table. Catra didn’t mind as long as orders weren’t backing up.

Entrapta wandered in at some point and ordered a miniature slice of blueberry pie. There was no way to actually serve a mini piece of pie without throwing the whole pie into chaos so Catra just carved a sliver off a regular sized piece and ate the rest of it herself. The pie was damn good. Entrapta babbled about the “taste index” she had been developing since their last conversation but Catra tuned it out and focused on the pie.

Towards the end of the shift, in the lull before the morning rush started, Adora waved Catra into the kitchen to ask her something.

“Hey, I have a favor to ask.”

“What’s up?”

“You can say no.”

“Just ask.”

“Okay, so, I like never really moved out of my old place…”

“Uh-huh, go on.” Catra waited, hand on hip, for whatever favor Adora was about to ask.

“And I still have a bunch of crap there, and I was wondering if you would help me move it out.”

“Why me? Don’t you have a like a million other friends you can ask.”

“Not really…? I’m going to go during the day when my ex is at work. I figured that you and I have the same schedule, so you wouldn’t be working at that time. And like, I really need someone to help me because I don’t want to be there longer than I need to, and I honestly, I just don’t want to go by myself. I don’t have anyone else to ask.”

Catra debated briefly. Loathe as she was to help anyone do anything, Adora was probably being honest about needing help. And she looked genuinely nervous, though Catra couldn’t tell if it was because she was nervous to ask or just nervous to go back to her old place. And in the end, Catra couldn’t say no. Blame it on exhaustion after a long shift, blame it on those big blue eyes, blame it on whatever, but Catra said she’d help.

“Fine. When are you going over there?”

“How about Monday? She’ll be at work.”

“Okay. But again,  _ you owe me _ . I’m keeping tabs. After this, you owe me big time.

* * *

Adora picked Catra up just after noon on Monday. Neither of them had gotten quite enough sleep since the end of their previous shift, but Adora was worried about having enough time to get in and out before her ex returned from work. Her old place was a loft in downtown, in a warehouse district known for an ever-changing rotation of hip bars and art galleries. The loft itself was a corner unit with huge windows banking two sides. Catra’s jaw dropped when she saw it.

Lucious house plants hung everywhere, creating a warm jungle of greenery around soft leather furniture and dark wood floors. Wine racks and bookshelves lined one of the walls and a small nook in the corner hid a dreamy four poster bed. It looked like a goddamn interior design magazine spread.

“Holy shit, you lived here? How the fuck did you afford this?”

“Well for one thing, Shadow paid _a little_ better than the diner. But honestly, it’s all my ex. She had a smaller place in the same building and when we decided to move in together it wasn’t that much more to upgrade to this one.”

“So is she loaded or something?”

“Huh? I mean, no? Kind of? She owns a wine import shop and I guess there’s like always a lot of cash flow. Honestly, we didn’t talk about money that much.”

“Weird, but okay. What are we here for?”

“How about if I pile up the stuff I want to take and you box it? We can start with the kitchen stuff.”

They got to work boxing up heavy cast iron pans and mixing bowls and altogether too many spatulas. They were halfway through the kitchen stuff when Catra heard keys in the door. She whirled around and grabbed Adora’s arm, hissing “Dude, I thought you said she wasn’t going to be home.”

A voice called out through the loft, “Adora? Is that you?” Adora looked panicked, frozen. Catra punched her shoulder to snap her out of it. By the time she started opening her mouth to respond, the woman had moved from the entryway into the loft. She looked back and forth from Adora to Catra, her face slowly transforming into a smoldering sneer.

“Oh, who’s this?” She tossed her purse and jacket on a couch and walked toward Adora and Catra. Catra wondered when the hell Adora would get her shit together enough to actually say anything, and was preparing to reply herself when Adora finally spoke up.

“This is Catra, my friend from work. She’s helping me pack.” Adora took a step back from her ex, bumping against Catra. Catra wanted nothing to do with whatever was happening, and elbowed Adora to try to move things along. At the jolt, Adora continued. “Why are you here? I specifically told you when I was coming so that you wouldn’t be here.”

“I thought we could talk, but I obviously didn’t know your new  _ friend _ would be here.” She gave Catra a look, which Catra immediately interpreted as territorial and jealous. “And where are you even working now? I asked at Shadow and nobody seemed to know, until I found out from one of the bartenders that you were cooking at some dump down by the waterfront.”

Every word from her mouth was dripping with disdain and Catra could feel her temper flaring. She knew it wasn’t her place to say anything but Catra was nothing if not petty. Her urge to fuck with the ex started to build. The woman continued, “You know you’re better than that Adora. You could cook in any kitchen downtown. I can’t believe you’re wasting your talent at a shithole like the Brightmoon Diner.”

Adora was breathing heavily and was clearly fighting back tears. Catra snapped. She wrapped her arm around Adora’s and leaned close to her ear, whispering loudly enough for the ex to hear, “Come on babe, you don’t have to stay and listen to this.” And then, as a pièce de résistance, she locked her eyes with the ex and gently kissed Adora’s cheek and slid her hand down to intertwine it in Adora’s. As she started moving towards the door, the ex exploded.

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” Her face turned bright red as she started yelling. “I can’t fucking believe you. It hasn’t even been a month and you’re already fucking someone else. And you bring her to our fucking home. Fuck you.” She was suddenly standing close enough to them that Catra could hear her rapid breathing. Adora’s hand was still gripped in Catra’s and Catra felt her grasp tighten.

“It’s not  _ our  _ home anymore,” Adora said, trying to sound calm. “You made that clear. I’m just trying to get my shit so I never have to come back here.” Adora and her ex glared at each other in silence and Catra took the opportunity to move a little closer to Adora and run her free hand along Adora’s shoulder in an attempt to soothe her. And to fuck with the ex a little more, obviously. That little gesture seemed to do the trick. The woman practically growled and turned on her heel and headed towards the door.

“Fine, whatever, Adora. Get you stuff out, I’ll be back in at five and you better be gone.” The door slammed behind her.

Adora groaned and Catra finally let out the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. She let Adora’s hand go and stepped back to lean against the counter. She decided not to say anything until Adora did. Her heart was racing. As her head slowly started to clear, she realized what she’d done. She had clearly crossed many lines and infinitely complicated Adora’s relationship drama. Fuck. She needed to apologize. She was scrambling to think of the right words when Adora spoke up.

“Thanks.” That was all she said. It was quiet and resigned but sounded sincere. Catra was stunned.

“Really? Because I feel like I royally fucked that up for you. I shouldn’t have done that. It wasn’t my place and I don’t know what I was thinking. Honestly, I wasn’t thinking, I just jumped in and...fuck! Sorry!”

“I’ve never seen her that pissed off before. Seriously, thank you. I’m pretty sure that’s the only thing that would have gotten her to leave.” Adora was actually smiling a little. It was definitely not the reaction Catra had expected, especially given all the times she’d caught Adora wiping away tears and sniffling as she flipped burgers at the diner.

“And you don’t mind that it made you look like a total dirtbag?”

“Like I care what she thinks.”

Catra was relieved and surprisingly pleased to hear Adora didn’t care. “Alright, well then let’s finish getting your shit and get out of here before she comes back. I  _ do not _ want to go through all that again.”

After they finished sorting through the kitchen, Adora really didn’t have that much to pack. Mostly clothes and some exercise gear, and a few books and framed photographs. They finished loading up Adora’s car long before five, and Catra got home with enough time to take a decent nap before the start of their next shift.

“Thanks for everything, Catra,” Adora said as Catra hopped out of the car.

“No problem. It’s been a while since I had a rush like that,” Catra laughed. “See you in a few hours, dummy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to everybody who was hoping for this turn into a roommates AU! And just to head you all off at the pass, it's also not really going to become a fake dating AU, but we'll see what happens if the ex pops again...
> 
> Title of the chapter, obviously, comes from Loretta Lynn. I guess if you really listen to the song, it would be from Adora's ex's POV but I'm mainly interested in the territorial, aggressive vibes Loretta imbues in all her best songs. Thought about naming this one Fist City but we didn't actually come to blows. Maybe later?
> 
> And thanks to everyone for your enthusiasm for this story, I love it! You're welcome to follow me on twitter (@okegihshigeko), where I sometimes muse about this fic


	6. i fall to pieces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we learn a lot about corned beef, potatoes, and Adora's past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: there is some discussion of death in this chapter

Adora’s pies were such a hit that Huntara decided to let her experiment more in the kitchen during the night shift. At first, she got a little  _ too  _ creative, trying out baked Alaskas (“ _ Way too complicated to serve on the regular _ ,” Catra pointed out), french omelettes (“ _ Too fancy, nobody’s gonna order that here _ ”), and prime rib (“ _ What is this, a steakhouse? _ ”) before striking gold.

“Corned beef!” Adora exclaimed loudly and out of the blue while she was alone in the kitchen. Catra heard it from behind the counter where she was taking an order from a customer. She finished jotting down the order and ducked into the kitchen where she found Adora scribbling things down a slip of paper and mumbling to herself. She looked slightly crazed but was also smiling.

“Hey weirdo, did I just hear you yell ‘corned beef’ out loud to absolutely nobody?”

Adora glanced up, still beaming. “Oh whoops, was that out loud?”

“Uh, yes, very. What are you doing in here anyway? Also, I need a cheeseburger with zucchini fries.”

“I figured out the perfect thing to start making in house. I can’t believe I didn’t think of it sooner. Corned beef!”

Catra looked dubious.

“Okay, hear me out. Not only is corned beef hash a  _ cornerstone _ of the breakfast menu, reubens are absolutely the second best sandwich on the menu. If we make our corned beef in house, it’s going to be so much better than that dried out shit we use now. Maybe I’ll even make sauerkraut and mustard too...this corned beef is going to be so good...”

“Ugh, please don’t ever say the words  _ corned beef _ to me again. Also, if a reuben is the second best sandwich, what’s the first?”

“Club, obviously.”

“Oh, yeah,  _ obviously _ .” Catra rolled her eyes. “Okay chef, how are you going to make it?”

“It takes a while, you have to brine the brisket for like a week before you braise it. But Huntara said I could order whatever I needed so I’m going to test out a couple of different spice mixes. I’m going to need to find saltpeter. Hmm...do you think I can get juniper berries around here? Oh wait, I know where to get them…” Adora was clearly talking to herself at this point so Catra reminded her about the burger order and returned to her post behind the counter.

Working with Adora was definitely a change from Lonnie, the previous night shift cook. Lonnie was fine to work with, she was a decent short order cook and was reliable, but the shifts passed so much faster with Adora. Catra liked to give Adora shit about all the different recipe ideas she was trying out, especially when Adora made like four different versions of the same thing. Half the time Catra could barely tell the difference between what she was taste-testing but she liked the way Adora waited breathlessly for her opinion. She liked how easy it was to tease out Adora’s competitive side. She would go all in at the slightest or stupidest challenge, just to prove her point.

One of their ongoing arguments about the menu was about how many different types of potatoes should be on offer at the diner. The argument was pointless because Huntara was ultimately the only person who decided what was offered, but they had spent multiple nights in heated debate over the  _ potato issue _ . 

Catra felt that a diner should offer every possible form of potatoes, including  _ all  _ the fries (regular, waffle, curly, steak, crinkle, etc). Why not? Adora, on the other hand, believed that a streamlined and “curated” ( _ groan _ ) list of options was better. At most, she argued, the diner should only offer hash browns, country potatoes (the kind that are fried in a skillet with onions and peppers), tater tots, fries, mashed, and baked. Anything else was overkill. Catra pushed the issue so far on one especially slow night that Adora actually prepared every possible type of potato side dish she could think of, just to prove that half of them were redundant. The endeavor didn’t solve anything but it did provide a series of increasingly absurd and hilarious posts on Catra’s instagram stories.

So in light of the potato issue, the  _ corned beef project _ didn’t surprise Catra at all. Sure, she thought that corned beef hash looked a little too much like dog food to be considered a “cornerstone” of the breakfast menu, but she loved watching Adora stick the tip of her tongue out and scratch her head while she was thinking too hard about the spice blends. And if Adora hadn’t been her coworker, and if Adora hadn’t just had her heart broken, and if Catra was just a little more honest with herself, she might even have started entertaining the idea that she had just the tiniest bit of a crush on the chef… But obviously, Adora  _ was _ her coworker, and she had  _ just _ had her heart broken, and Catra was Catra. Which is to say, Catra was never going to admit anything like that, even to herself.

* * *

It was nearly 2am that same night when a striking couple strolled in and sat down at the counter. The woman had dark blue hair and was wearing a turquoise tracksuit and the man accompanying her had a thick handlebar moustache. The few customers in the diner at the time started whispering and one even pulled out their phone to discreetly snap a photo.

“Mermista, long time no see,” Catra greeted the woman. She pointedly ignored the man.

“Ugh, we’ve been shooting in LA this season so I’ve been gone for like four months. I’m so over that city.”

“It has been  _ quite _ an ADVENTURE!” her companion added, far too loudly for two in the morning.

“Nobody asked you, Sea Hawk!” Mermista groaned. He seemed to shrink a little at her words. Catra laughed.

“I see you’ve still got this dumbass around.”

“He’s just my driver.”

“And bodyguard!”

“And bodyguard.”

“Mmmhmm,” Catra replied, raising her eyebrow suggestively. “Driver and bodyguard. Okay. So what are you having tonight, the regular?”

“Yeah, with a chocolate shake.”

“What about you?”

“I will have what my darl...ahem, what Mermista is having.”

“Alright, two patty melts coming right up.”

Catra returned to the kitchen to relay the orders. Adora was waiting in wide-eyed anticipation. “Is that  _ Mermista Salineas _ ?!” she whispered.

“Yeah, obviously, dummy. Who else would it be?”

“Do you, like, know her?”

“She’s kind of a regular here. She’s been coming since she was little and now she usually comes in a couple times a month if she’s in town. She hasn’t been around for a while though, I guess she’s been in LA filming the next season of  _ Mermysteries _ .”

“Holy shit. I’ve watched like every single episode of  _ Mermysteries _ multiple times. Do you think you could, like, introduce me to her?”

“Do you think you could, like, have one ounce of chill? Or are you going to make a complete ass out yourself?”

“Oh, yeah, pfff, totally. I can be  _ totally _ chill.” Adora attempted to lean back casually but ended up setting her palm down on top of the flattop. She yelped at the sear, knocking a stack of skillets to the floor and nearly toppling over in an attempt to recover.

“Holy shit, are you ok!” Catra dashed over and grabbed Adora’s hand to inspect the burn. Her palm looked a little pink but not too bad.

“Yeah, no, it’s fine, it wasn’t really that hot, it just surprised me.” Adora flushed and pulled her hand back. “Fuck. So much for having any chill.”

“Uhhhh, is everything okay in there?” Mermista’s voice drifted into the kitchen from the dining area. Catra gave Adora a concerned look and Adora shook her head to indicate that she was fine.

“I’ll be right back, I’m just going to check on them…”

“Yeah, go, I’m fine. Two patty melts, right?”

Adora immediately got to work on the patty melts while Catra returned to check in on her tables and make the shakes. She was concerned about Adora’s hand but decided to just trust that Adora would say something if it was actually burned.

“Everything cool in the kitchen?” Mermista asked.

“Yeah, we have a new cook and she’s a clumsy dork. I think you made her nervous,” Catra laughed. “I told her she could bring your food out when it’s ready and meet you.”

“Ugh, fine, whatever. But my patty melt better be as good as Huntara’s.”

“Oh, it will be. Adora used to cook at some fancy ass restaurant downtown, she can handle a patty melt.”

“Dearest, you know a patty melt is just a…”

“Can it, Sea Hawk.”

Adora emerged from the kitchen with the plates and placed them gingerly in front of Mermista and Sea Hawk. “Dinner is served!” she added, with a flourish.  _ Such a fucking dork _ , Catra thought to herself, laughing at Adora’s delivery.

After a few bites, while Adora bounced nervously on the balls of her feet, Mermista declared that the patty melt was fine, just as good as she remembered. Adora let out a huge breath and relaxed. “Oh my god Adora, you’re acting like you’re about to get  _ Chopped _ . Anyway, Mermista, this is Adora, our new night shift cook. Adora, this is Mermista. Oh, and that’s Sea Hawk, her driver.”

Adora seemed to be stuttering for words. Mermista, having no patience for it, took the lead. “So. Where did you used to work? Catra said it was downtown.”

“Oh, yeah, I was at Shadow for the last few years.”

“Shadow. Wow. That place is amazing. Sea Hawk and I were actually there a couple of nights ago. The scallops fucking blew my mind.”

“I helped develop that recipe! I mean, it’s obviously Chef Weaver’s dish but I spent like a month tweaking the sauce.”

“Wait, you spent a month developing it and it’s your boss’s dish? That’s fucked up.” Catra wasn’t really surprised but it still pissed her off. Adora clearly put a lot of care into her cooking (exhibit A: the corned beef project) and nobody, especially Adora’s bitch of a former boss, should get credit for her work.

“So how did you end up here. Because, and I say this with all the love in my heart, the Brightmoon Diner is kind of a dump compared to Shadow.” If it had been anyone else besmirching the diner’s reputation, Catra would have tossed them on the spot, but she knew Mermista had a talent for shit talking the things she loved the most. Catra was also interested to hear how Adora was going to field the question.

“I think I got burned out on fine dining,” Adora paused, debating if she wanted to elaborate. She took a deep breath and continued, “I also got fired, so I guess it wasn’t really my choice…”

“No shit, that sucks.”

“Yeah, but I hated that job. Which is probably why I got fired? That and I cussed out the chef.” Adora grimaced and gave a little nervous laugh. It was almost impossible for Catra to imagine Adora angry enough to cuss out her boss, though Adora had been pretty tightly wound those first few nights at the diner. It probably wouldn’t have taken much to push her over the edge.

“Ugh, Weaver probably had it coming. I’ve met her before, and I’ve heard stories about what a monster she is to her staff.”

“It was bad. It took all the joy out of food. Like everything had to be  _ perfect _ . If there was a single crumb or drop of broth out of place, Weaver would trash the whole plate and scream at you in front of the rest of the staff. And she was always trying to pit all the kitchen staff against each other. I just snapped. Like what was it even for? I was never going to get any farther in that kitchen. Maybe  _ sous _ at some point, but probably not. And she would sabotage anyone that tried to leave for another job. It’s like she’s a restaurant mob boss.” Adora seemed to realize that she’d been ranting for a while and stopped abruptly. “Sorry, ugh. It was just a lot. Working here is way better.”

“Yeah? So what do you think about working with this bitch?” Mermista nodded at Catra.

“Takes one to know one, asshole,” Catra shot back. Adora laughed at the exchange.

“Oh, Catra and I go way back. We went to high school together.”

“Seriously? Okay, I  _ need _ to know what Catra was like in high school.”

“Everyone was terrified of her. She was like this mysterious loner who would always sit in the back of the class brooding. I swear she would growl at anyone that tried to talk to her before third period.”

“You say that like you didn’t have a big fat crush on me.”

“Ooo, high school crush drama, I love this shit. Okay so Catra was already a moody bitch back then. What were you like?”

“Oh, I can answer this one!” Catra jumped in eagerly. “Adora was an idiot jock with like a million friends and perfect grades. Teachers fucking loved her. The hometown newspaper wrote a  _ cover story _ about her when she got a full ride sports scholarship to some big time university. If she wasn’t such a lez, she would have been prom queen.” Catra was teasing Adora while she said it, but something changed suddenly in Adora’s face when Catra mentioned the scholarship. The playfulness drained out of her. Catra paused. “Anyway...Adora was, like, perfect. Everybody loved her.”

Adora abruptly excused herself to check on something in the kitchen and Catra continued chatting with Mermista and Sea Hawk while they finished their food. Before the couple left, Mermista snapped a selfie with Catra and another pic of Adora giving a thumbs through the service window and posted them to her instagram, captioning the post  _ Best fucking patty melt in town at the Brightmoon Diner _

Catra dipped into the kitchen after they were gone. Adora was mopping the floor. “Hey, what happened? Did I say something? You seemed all bummed out and then you disappeared back here.”

“It’s nothing, sorry if I was being weird.”

Catra took a deep breath. Heart to hearts were not her strong suit but the feeling that she said something shitty without even knowing bothered her. She continued, cautiously, “It feels like it’s not nothing. You totally don’t have to talk about it but...you also can, if you want to.”

Adora kept mopping and Catra hopped up onto the counter to get her feet off the floor and out of the way. After a couple minutes of silence, Adora finally started talking. “You didn’t do anything, not on purpose. It’s just the whole scholarship thing...it’s a sore spot. It’s like something that I really fucked up and don’t like to think about.”

Without thinking, Catra asked, “What happened?” and then immediately regretted it. “Sorry, shit, you just said you don’t like thinking about it.”

“No, it’s fine. I’m already thinking about it. I got a full ride scholarship to play soccer, and everybody was so excited and proud. And it was the only way that I was going to be able to afford college because my mom was sick and like all our money was going toward her treatment.”

“She was sick?”

“Yeah, cancer. She died that summer, after we graduated.”

“Fuck, I’m sorry.”

“Thanks, yeah. She had been so proud that I was going to go to college and play soccer and get my degree and everything. But then when I got there, it wasn’t like I expected. Soccer and training took up all my time, and even though the program provided tutors and we got special extensions on assignments and whatever, I was barely keeping up on all my classes. And then, in the middle of the season, I just lost it. I tried so hard to keep it together, with the team and my grades. Like, I wanted to do it for her, but I couldn’t. We were almost in the playoffs and I was practicing and playing all the time, staying up all night trying to get my work done, and I just couldn’t. I failed two of my classes and I got put on probation, and I just couldn’t deal with it anymore and decided to drop out before the next semester even started.”

Adora was gripping the mop so tightly Catra wondered if she was going to snap the handle. Tears had welled up in the corners of her eyes, and Catra panicked a little, not sure what to say. She was still trying to find the right words when Adora continued talking.

“I still feel so embarrassed about what happened. I had this golden opportunity and I fucked it up, and I let everybody down. I was going to be the first person in my family to graduate from college, and my mom was so proud of me, and I just crashed and burned.”

“Adora. Are you serious? You didn’t fuck it up. Your mom died. It takes time to deal with that. Like a lot of time.”

“Anyway. Ugh. I’m okay. It just sneaks up on me sometimes. Like I’ll go months, a whole year, feeling fine and then something stupid will trigger some memory or feeling. I had totally forgotten about that newspaper story and when you mentioned it, I remembered that my mom had saved it and put it up on the fridge. It made me miss her.”

Needless to say, Catra felt like shit. She knew, objectively, that she didn’t do anything wrong or hurtful on purpose, but she still felt like shit. Adora had gone back to mopping and Catra was still perched on the counter, so she just sat and watched Adora clean the floor. The diner was empty, there was no other work to be done at the moment.

Eventually some early morning customers rolled in and Catra and Adora went about their work without much conversation between them. It wasn’t awkward, just subdued. Catra could tell Adora was sad, but in a different way than she had been in the first few days at the diner, when she had been sniffling over her breakup.

As they clocked out at the end of their shift, Adora seemed to be in slightly better spirits and mentioned that Bow and Glimmer were insisting on a welcome party to celebrate her move into their apartment.

“I don’t know what I’ve gotten myself into, but you absolutely have to come. You’re kind of the reason I’m even living there in the first place. Plus, Scorpia already said she’d come after her shift. I asked her when I got here tonight.”

“You want me to burn  _ another _ night off with my coworkers?” Catra joked. “I guess if Scorp’s going, I can drop by.”

“Yes!” Adora exclaimed, with an overly dramatic fist pump.

“God, you are such a dork.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I didn't initially think Adora was going to dump her whole backstory in one night but ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ Maybe it was a full moon or something. I know this chapter was a little moody but we'll return to more catradora banter in the next chapter, at the BFS party.
> 
> Thanks to everyone for reading! Let me know your personal opinions on diner potatoes in the comments or on twitter (@okegihshigeko) ✌️


	7. don't touch me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Party at the BFS apartment!

Catra thought about waiting until Scorpia’s shift ended so that they could go to Adora’s party together, but Scorpia didn’t get off until eleven and that was a little too far past fashionably late, even for Catra. So she showed up at the apartment around nine, hoping that the party would be in full swing and she could slip in without any fanfare. She was right about the first part, the apartment loud and crowded, but the second she stepped through the entryway Bow and Glimmer descended on her, wrapping her in a group hug and announcing her arrival to the entire apartment.

She managed to extract herself from their tangled arms but the duo peppered her with questions as they dragged her to the kitchen to get drinks. They were clearly already drunk and especially interested in how Catra and Adora ended up on Mermista Salineas’ instagram feed. Glimmer tried pump as much Mermista gossip out Catra as she could before Catra abruptly cut her off, saying “Mermista’s been coming to the diner since she was kid. She’s chill, unlike you two, and she comes in the middle of the night to avoid people like you. Now,  _ please _ , beer me before I decide to leave.”

“You know,” Glimmer said, getting all together too close to Catra’s face, “I thought you were a bitch when I first met you. But after Adora told me about that shit you pulled at her ex’s, I still think you’re a bitch, but like, a bitch for good. A good bitch.”

Bow fished through a cooler to find Catra a beer and assured her that Glimmer didn’t mean that. “She’s a little drunk,” he whispered loudly.

“Fuck off, Bow, I heard that!”

Bow wrapped his arm around Catra’s shoulder as she cracked her beer open.  _ Scorpia’s gonna fit right in here _ , Catra thought as she tried to wriggle out of his arm. “So,” he said, in a weirdly conspiratorial tone, “Adora sure talks about you a lot.”

“Well, we do work together, like almost every single night, and I’m literally the only person she has to talk to. She sick of me yet?”

“She won’t fucking shut up about you.” Now Glimmer was invading Catra’s personal space too. Catra was sandwiched tightly between the two of them. “Catra said this, Catra did that. Catra liked the hot sauce I made. Catra thought my chili was bland.”

“Like I said, I’m kind of a captive audience. She doesn’t have anyone else to torture with her never ending taste tests.”

Though it didn’t seem possible, Glimmer leaned even closer to Catra and lowered her voice, “I think she’s into you.” Bow winked ostentatiously. Catra groaned and rolled her eyes so dramatically that her irises nearly disappeared into the back of her head.

“What is this, middle school?”

“No, it’s more like high school, the other time that Adora had a crush on you.” Glimmer and Bow erupted in laughter. Catra practically launched herself out from between the two of them.

“Oh my fucking god, I’m leaving,” she growled as she started stalking out of the kitchen. 

“You can’t leave, you just got here,” Adora’s voice cut through the noise of the living room. 

“I wasn’t actually going to leave dumbass, I just needed the sparkle twins to give me some space,” Catra grumbled. She wove her way towards Adora through a cluster of people standing near the doorway. “You didn’t actually hear what we were talking about, did you?” she asked when she reached the couch where Adora was sitting with a couple of other people. Adora laughed and shook her head.

“Catra, these are my friends Jewelstar and Starla. Guys, this is Catra. She works with me at the diner.” Catra nodded a hello at the pair. “J and I went to cooking school together, Starla’s his sister.”

“Cool. Did you work at Shadow too?”

“Fuck no, that place is toxic. I can’t believe Adora lasted there as long as she did. No, I work in the kitchen at the Hilton downtown right now, but I’m about to open my own place.”

“Oh sweet, congrats.” Catra clinked her beer bottle against his. 

“Actually, I was just telling Adora that I’m hosting a pop up in a couple of weeks to start generating some buzz. The restaurant isn’t going to open for a few months but I want to show off some of the dishes I’ve been working on. You should come with Adora.”

“That sounds pretty rad, but Adora and I work nights.”

“It’s on our night off! Plus, I told J how I’ve been trying out a bunch of new recipes on you every night, and how you never hold back your criticism.”

“It’s like you’ve made it your mission to take over every single one of my nights off.”

“You started it by taking me out to the Crimson Waste.”

“Well I didn’t think I was setting a precedent! Anyway, sure, yeah, I’ll come. Thanks for the invite.”

They chatted about the pop up some more, but the conversation rapidly descended into some kind of intense gossip about restaurant people that Adora used to work with. Catra didn’t know who they were talking about and didn’t really care to follow, so she wandered away to look for something else to do while she waited for Scorpia to arrive. She grabbed another beer and found a quiet spot on the apartment balcony. Parties, especially ones where she didn’t know anyone, were not her strong suit. She lit up a cigarette and was settling in to enjoy the view when somebody slid open the balcony door and joined her. It was Starla.

“When those two start talking about their restaurant shit, it’s like nothing else matters,” she said. “Mind if I chill out here with you?”

Catra nodded and Starla leaned up against the wall next to her.

“So you’re not a chef, I take it?” Catra asked.

“No, worse. I’m a grad student.”

“What are you studying?”

“History. So J’s restaurant better be a success because I’ll probably end up working there when I can’t find a job.” Starla laughed. She leaned against the wall, facing Catra. Catra eyed her quietly, not sure what to follow up with.

“Your eyes are beautiful,” Starla said. “I’ve never seen someone with eyes like that.”

“Thanks,” Catra replied. “Most people think it’s weird or say I look like a cat. Which is annoying, obviously. There’s that pitcher, Max Scherzer. He’s got heterochromia too, but he’s got one brown eye and one blue eye. He looks more like a husky.”

Starla laughed. “Hey, can I bum a cigarette. I don’t smoke anymore but...well, you know how it is. That shit smells good after a couple of drinks.”

Catra fished out her pack and shook out a cigarette for Starla.

“Light it for me?” Starla asked, leaning closer to Catra with the cigarette already hanging from lips. She rested her fingertips lightly on Catra’s forearm. Catra knew this game. Starla wasn’t being subtle. She was also beautiful, and maybe if Catra had been a couple drinks farther along or if they had been standing outside the Crimson Waste, Catra would have taken the bait. But it was too early in the night and they were on  _ Adora’s balcony _ . So, though Catra did light Starla’s cigarette for her, she stepped back half a step after she finished and avoided eye contact while she killed off the rest of her beer.

A moment later the door slid open and Adora practically burst out onto the small balcony, startling Catra and Starla. “Hey, Catra!” she blurted out, scanning the space between Catra and Starla. She seemed to suddenly realize that she might have interrupted something. “Oh, shit, sorry, uh, I didn’t mean to…”

Catra abruptly moved another step away from Starla. She noticed that Adora looked supremely awkward and flushed, and wondered how much she’d had to drink. Nevertheless, Catra was glad for Adora’s interruption of...whatever had been happening. “Hey Adora, what’s up?”   


“Uh,” Adora stuttered a little. “I just noticed you had disappeared and I realized Jewelstar and I were probably doing that thing where we talk about restaurant stuff too much and bore everyone, and I just wondered where you went.”

“You guys were totally doing that,” Starla replied. “It’s surprising that two assholes that love to hear themselves talk so much wouldn’t notice when their audience has disappeared.” It sounded harsh to Catra but Adora laughed and seemed to take it like she was used to Starla giving her shit. Starla turned back to Catra and added, “I usually enforce a no food talk rule when I hang out with them. I would rather die than hear another chef story.”

Adora had positioned herself on the opposite side of Catra from Starla, and so Catra found herself in yet another uncomfortably close human sandwich, though this one was notably more tense than the Bow/Glimmer situation from earlier in the night. Why every single person at this goddamn party needed to practically lean up against her was the mystery of the night, but Catra could not deal with it anymore. She slipped out from between Starla and Adora and leaned back against the balcony railing opposite of the both of them.

“I needed some fresh air and came out here to chill until Scopria shows,” she said, trying not to sound too grouchy. “It’s nice out here, you’ve got a decent view.” She turned away from them, rested her elbows on the railing, and looked out across the city. She took a long drag from her cigarette. She still couldn’t really put her finger on what the source of awkwardness on the balcony was, but she figured she could just try to change the subject and ignore it. Catra considered the possibility that Adora was being awkward because she and Starla had some kind of history, maybe from back before Adora met her ex. Whatever it was, Catra tried to ignore it.

Adora crossed the narrow balcony and joined Catra in leaning against the railing. She stood close enough that their shoulders brushed together, and for some reason, it didn’t bother Catra the way that every other intrusion into her personal space had that night. In fact, Adora felt warm and comfortable and Catra leaned just a little bit closer.

“Yeah, I like to come out here in the evenings before our shift, just to get some fresh air and watch all the lights come on across the city. Plus Bow and Glimmer almost never come out here so it’s actually quiet.”

Catra laughed. “I seriously cannot imagine what living with them must be like.”

Catra had forgotten that Starla was still on the balcony, leaning against the wall behind them. She startled a little when Starla announced that she was heading back to get another drink and find Jewelstar.

They stood in silence for a while, and then Adora asked, somewhat quietly, “I wasn’t interrupting anything, was I? Because Starla’s really cool and, like, I…”

“No, it’s cool,” Catra cut her off. “I’m glad you showed up.”

Adora’s face slowly morphed from tentative and nervous into a cocky grin. “Yeah? I guess do you like me after all,” she teased, and nudged Catra with her shoulder.

“I do  _ not _ like you. You’re literally the only person I know here. And you should know by now that I hate everybody on principle, you included.”

Adora just laughed some more. “You don’t hate me.”

“You’re such an idiot,” Catra muttered, laughing.

They eventually decided it was time for another beer and were heading back to the kitchen when Scorpia finally arrived. She met them in the kitchen and immediately scooped Catra up in a huge bear hug. “Wildcat! I’m here! I can’t believe we’re actually hanging out outside of work!”

“Put me down Scorpia!”  _ This has to be the last time someone manhandles me tonight, right?  _ Catra thought.

“I’ve just missed you so much. Jeez, it’s just not the same working a different shift.” She turned to Adora, who was laughing while she watched the whole scene unfold, and wrapped her up in her own bear hug. “Great to see you too, Adora. Thank you  _ so much _ for inviting me. And wow, there are a lot of folks here. Where are you roomies?”

As if on cue, Bow and Glimmer suddenly appeared. Scorpia greeted them with enthusiasm and then started chatting with the group. Glimmer was retelling the story of Adora getting dragged around the stage of the Crimson Waste by Double Trouble when Catra noticed Scorpia was staring off across the room, clearly not listening. 

“Hey, Scorp? Hello??” Catra waved her hand in front of Scorpia’s face. “What are you staring at?” She tracked Scorpia’s gaze across the room and landed on tall willowy woman chatting away with Jewelstar and Starla. Glimmer seemed to connect the dots at the same moment, and squealed in drunken delight.

“That’s Adora’s farmer friend Perfuma!”

“ _ Farmer _ friend?” Catra asked, dubiously. Scorpia was still dumbfounded.

“Her family owns an apple orchard outside of town,” Adora clarified. “I know her from the farmers market.”

“Well, I think you’re going to have to make an introduction,” Catra replied, nodding at Scorpia. Glimmer was on it. She grabbed Scorpia’s sleeve and started dragging her across the room. Catra, Adora and Bow followed.

“Glimmer loves to instigate a love connection,” Adora whispered.

“Yeah, I gathered that earlier.” She wondered if Adora was in on Glimmer and Bow’s earlier assault. Probably not, right? Because that would mean...Catra dismissed that line of thinking and refocused on Scorpia, who frankly needed all the help she could get.

Glimmer made the introductions. Scorpia made a point to robustly shake every person’s hand and lingered quite obviously when she got to Perfuma. To Catra’s surprise, Scorpia was only mildly tongue tied and seemed to be doing a passable job of flirting with Perfuma (about apples, of all things?) and it was clear to the group that they should give the couple some space.

Catra stuck around for a while longer, but decided to leave at the same time as Scorpia. Adora seemed a little surprised that she was leaving, despite the fact that the party was all but dead and hardly anyone was still there.

“Contrary to popular belief, I actually do like to sleep at night sometimes,” Catra said. “Plus, I’m going to make sure Scorpia makes it home.” Scorpia was more love drunk than  _ drunk _ drunk, but Catra knew her friend well enough that she could probably use a ride home.

“Alright, cool, well, I’ll see you at work then. Thanks for coming,” Adora said as she wrapped Catra in a hug. The hug was completely unexpected and Catra froze. Scorpia, never one to let a group hug opportunity pass, wrapped her arms around both of them and squeezed until Catra groaned and demanded to be let free.

Scorpia would not shut up about Perfuma on the drive home. She was clearly head over heels, and had already locked in a date for dinner the next weekend. Catra teased her but was happy for her friend. Finally, as Scorpia started to unbuckle her seatbelt to make her way out of the car, she casually noted that she thought she picked up on some  _ chemistry _ between Catra and Adora.

“What!?” Catra could deal with Sparkles making ridiculous insinuations but Scorpia? Scorpia was supposed to be her ally. “No way, Scorp, you’re seeing things.”

“So you’re  _ not  _ into her? Just so I’m clear.”

“Yes, I am not into her.” Catra tried to enunciate every word, just to make sure it sank into Scorpia’s thick skull.

“Because it really seems like you are.”

Catra didn’t respond, but Scorpia just kept sitting in the passenger seat, smirking at her.

“Ugh, stop staring at me like that. And anyway...even if I was into her (which I AM NOT), I’m not gonna be her rebound. Plus we work together! That would be, like, so awkward.”

“Well, she’s obviously into you.”

“You’re crazy.”

“I’m just calling it like I see it.”

“Get out of my car.”

“You got it, Wildcat.” And with that, Scorpia left Catra to fume over the unbelievable number of times people had made wild suggestions about her and Adora that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who has been reading this, especially to everyone who has shared their pie baking adventures and mishaps! I hope you all enjoy this glimpse into the BFS apartment.
> 
> Chapter title comes from Tammy Wynette, and really works for Catra at this party on so many levels


	8. know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the house party, we return to the diner for a couple of nights, and Catra wins a bet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick note - the restaurant they go to, an izakaya, is a Japanese-style pub. I modeled this one off one of my favorites in LA, Furaibo, which I miss going to so much and you should definitely hit up if you're in Gardena or West LA. I'll explain what the dishes Catra orders are in the end note.

The diner had been noticeably more crowded since Mermista’s instagram post. Well, the middle of the shift, from 2-6am was still pretty dead every night, but a lot more people seemed to be showing up earlier in the evening, hoping to catch the TV star on one of her late night patty melt runs. Mermista hadn’t been in since that night, and Catra figured she would probably lay low for a while, but it was good for business.

Buzz about Adora’s pies and other tweaks to the menu was also getting around, and Scorpia convinced Huntara that she needed to start an instagram account to hype the new food and let people know what pies were in rotation every day. Catra, of course, believed that social media branding was completely opposite of the late night diner aesthetic she’d spent the last five years cultivating in the diner and in herself, but she was nevertheless forced to manage the account during the night shift. She begrudgingly promised Huntara to do a decent job and to not abuse the power.

The night shift posts were intended to showcase Adora’s cooking and ideas but Catra couldn’t resist taking some liberties with her new assignment. The first night that Catra took the reins, she posted some standard glamour shots of fresh pies cooling on the diner counter (so boring) like Huntara requested, but also goaded Adora into sharing one of her diner hot takes on the story.

> _ “Hey Adora,” Catra calls, while filming Adora flipping pancakes on the flat top. “Tell the diner fans what you told me earlier about eggs.” _
> 
> _ “Huh?” Adora turns, holding the now-plated short stack. _
> 
> _ “Eggs, dummy, and ketchup.” _
> 
> _ “Oh, it’s totally disgusting when people put ketchup on eggs. It completely ruins them. An egg yolk is so beautiful, so perfect, and then you’re going to dump sugary tomato paste all over it? Gross. If it was up to me, I would ban it.” _
> 
> _ “You know it’s, like, the most popular condiment in a diner, right?” _
> 
> _ “Hot sauce or straight up pepper and salt are the only acceptable options.” _
> 
> _ Catra flips the camera around to face herself. “Alright, the first person to make a convincing argument against Adora’s horrible ketchup take wins a free piece of pie, redeemable between the hours of midnight and 4am.” _

Only a couple of people responded that first night, but Catra picked a winner and they actually showed up around 2am for their slice of pie. Catra let them explain their counter-argument on the story, which actually focused more on diners as non judgemental spaces for people to find comfort in food rather than a direct challenge to Adora’s anti-ketchup position, but they made a good point.

“I still disagree,” Adora insisted, after the winner finished and left.

“You’re not some princess who can dictate how all our customers order their food. You can’t ban something from the menu just because you think it’s gross. This ain’t fine dining, it’s a greasy spoon and you’re just a short order cook. Someone wants to order eggs over hard and smother it in ketchup, you gotta cook it and serve it up with a smile.”

“I don’t have to smile, customers don’t get the pleasure of seeing my beautiful face. I’ll scowl as much as I want at their gross orders.”

“If someone orders something like that, I’m going to make you take it out to their table and serve it with a smile.”

“I’m pretty sure you  _ never _ serve anything with a smile. And you know what, Huntara never specified who’s in charge during our shift. I feel like it makes sense for the server to take orders from the chef. You can’t make me do anything.” Adora had the dumbest, cockiest (cutest?) grin on her face, as if she had made  _ such a good point _ . 

Catra deadpanned back, “Seniority rules, babe, and despite your ridiculous chef costume, there’s no  _ chef  _ here at the Brightmoon Diner, just a short order cook, and I’m clearly the night shift boss. This place would crumble without me.”

“A diner can definitely function perfectly fine in the middle of the night with just a cook but there’s no way you could run this place without me.”

“Alright hot shot, prove it.” Catra hopped up on a counter in the kitchen. “I’m going to sit here for the rest of the shift, and you can handle the food and take the orders. We’ll see how smoothly things run.” She pulled out her phone and started scrolling performatively. She didn’t expect Adora to take the bait, but Adora crossed her arms and considered the challenge for a moment before replying.

“I think we should up the ante on this wager. If I can run the diner alone for the next three hours, which takes us to 6am, before Huntara gets here, then you owe me...hmm...dinner at a restaurant of my choosing. Same for you if I lose, dinner, your pick.”

“Okay, just to be clear, you lose when you ask me for any kind of help?”

“Yep.”

“Alright, you’re on.” They shook on it.

Catra knew she had been kind of a mess at the party the other night, but this kind of banter during their night shifts was easy. She blamed her awkward discomfort at the party on the relentless insinuations and overly-frequent hugging that everybody had bombarded her with from the minute she arrived. She didn’t need Glimmer or Bow or Scorpia to point out that Adora was flirting, or that she flirted back. Flirting wasn’t a problem. She’d been flirting with Adora since the first shift they worked together. The  _ problem _ was any potential escalation that could result from the flirting. The absolute last thing Catra wanted to get caught up in the emotional messiness of the recently brokenhearted.  _ No thank you _ . 

The diner was completely empty when the wager was made, so Adora had it easy for the first hour and a half. Around 4:30, Adora failed to hear the door chime ring out as a customer entered the diner. Catra definitely heard it, and figured it was probably Rogelio, who came in around this time every morning for breakfast after driving his cab all night. Catra snuck a peek into the diner and confirmed that it was Rogelio. She  _ might _ have texted him earlier to let him know about the bet she had going with Adora. A few minutes passed and Adora hadn’t looked up from the veggies she was prepping for the day shift. A minute or two more passed and Rogelio finally called out to Catra.

“Yo, Catra, where you at? You ignoring me on purpose?”

Adora’s head whipped up at the sound. She tossed aside her knife, brushed off her hands and trotted out to take his order.

“Sorry about that, it’s just me right now. I didn’t hear you come in. Oh hey, I remember you, you drive a cab right?”

Rogelio nodded silently.

“What can I get you?”

“Just the regular.”

Adora waited for him to elaborate. When he didn’t respond, she asked for clarification, “Sorry, what is it that you usually get? I haven’t been working here long enough to learn all the regulars’ orders.” Catra could hear the apologetic smile on Adora’s face.

Rogelio grumbled a little and let her know that he wanted a denver omelette with hashbrowns and rye, with a coffee. Catra had to hold back her laughter while she listened to the whole exchange. Despite his intimidating size and perpetual scowl, Rogelio was actually one of the friendliest guys she knew and he was selling his grouchiness brilliantly. Adora was already flustered. She did manage to serve his coffee before she ducked back into the kitchen to make the omelette.

“How’s it going out there?”

“Great, awesome, piece of cake.” The breakfast plate was ready in no time. When Adora delivered it, Rogelio asked for ketchup, which Adora graciously provided.

Adora went back to her prep work but another customer came in before long. She took his order and was halfway through cooking it when another group came in. It was past 5am now and the morning crowd was starting to wake up. Adora had to abandon her prep work and just focus on the customers, but she seemed to be managing things decently. Better than Catra thought she would.

At least she  _ was _ managing things alright, until she had to work the cash register. Rogelio had paid cash and needed no change, so Adora hadn’t bothered to actually ring his order up on the register, but the next few customers wanted to pay with cards and Adora fumbled around with the register for an embarrassing amount of time before she figured out how to charge them.

Catra did consider the possibility that Adora was stubborn enough that she would refuse to ask for help even if she royally fucked something up. Did she actually charge those people, or did she just punch a bunch of buttons on the register and give them their meals for free? Catra figured that was a problem for future Catra and Adora to deal with, when Huntara was reviewing receipts after their shift. And the bet only went until 6am...Adora couldn’t do too much damage in the next forty-five minutes. Right?

Business really started to heat up after 5:30, and Adora was practically jogging between the kitchen and the dining room. Every time she passed by, Catra smiled serenely and asked how she was doing. Adora had stopped replying and just glared at Catra each time, sweat beading on her forehead.

Catra watched the clock and started to worry that she might actually lose the bet. It was 5:45 and Adora seemed to have everything handled. The thought of losing was  _ ugh _ so annoying, but Catra considered the fact that she would be getting dinner with Adora either way, and that maybe wasn’t so bad. She was thinking about what stupid “hip” restaurant Adora was going to pick when she heard a surprisingly loud, “FUCK!” from the dining room.

She decided it was the sound of Adora losing the bet, and slipped off the counter to investigate what had happened.

“Uhh, everything cool out here, Adora?”

“Sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean to yell. I just cannot figure out how to split this tab, and there are like three tables waiting for me to take their order, and I haven’t even started on the orders I’ve already taken.”

“So...do you need any help?” Catra could barely keep a straight face. Adora looked pissed.

“YES CATRA, please help!”

“That’s what I wanted to hear.” Catra smiled and snatched the tab from Adora’s hand and pushed her into the kitchen. She glanced at the clock. It was 5:52am. She had won. Victory was sweet. (Cleaning up the mess Adora had made of the cash register and receipts was not so sweet, but Catra decided it was worth it.)

* * *

Catra cashed in on her victory dinner the night before their next shift. She kept it casual and decidedly un-diner-like, and chose her favorite late night spot, an izakaya pub around the corner from the Brightmoon Diner. She figured it was small enough that Adora hadn’t been there, and chill enough that they could just eat and talk without escalating whatever it was that was going on between them. The fact that Adora had wagered what was clearly a date was not lost on Catra, but she remained committed to playing dumb about the whole situation until she had a better idea about how to proceed. Or,  _ if _ to proceed, more accurately.

“You’re so pleased with yourself for winning,” Adora complained as they sipped beer and skimmed the menu. “You know, if we had really wanted to make the bet even, you should have had to cook all the food while I took orders.”

“Not my fault you didn’t think of that when we shook on it,” Catra smirked. “I knew you were going to lose, but I was starting to get a little nervous around 5:45. I should have known it would be the cash register that took you out.”

“You know, I’ve never actually had to work one.”

“That was obvious.”

“Asshole,” Adora laughed. She turned back to the menu. “What do you like to get here?”

“Definitely the teba saki wings. Actually,” Catra paused and looked pointedly at Adora, “We better get two orders, I don’t want to have to fight you. Let’s get a couple yaki onigiri, I like the miso ones. The age nasu is really good. Shishito peppers. Miso black cod. Oh, and the enoki mushrooms. You think that’s enough? Everything’s tiny.”

Catra noticed that Adora looked surprised at the pile of food she just listed off. “What?” she asked.

“Nothing. I’ve just never seen you act so excited about food. You’re usually so blasé, giving me shit for getting worked up about something at the diner.”

“What? I love food. Especially this food. Scorpia and I come here all the time. I give you shit because you have such terrible takes about everything, and you’re such a dork when you talk about recipes.”

“Well, you go ahead and pick everything. I’m sure I’ll love it.”

Adora did love it all, and it was definitely not enough food. They ended up ordering  _ another _ round of wings and some more assorted skewers, but eventually Adora and her enormous appetite started slowing down and it was getting close to when their shift started at the diner.

Catra had noticed throughout the meal that Adora’s phone was kind of blowing up. Adora didn’t check it every time but the times she did, she scowled. By the third or fourth time, Catra couldn’t stop from asking.

“What’s going on?” She nodded at Adora’s phone. It was obvious what she was asking about. Adora sighed.

“My ex keeps texting me.”

“Oh.”  _ This _ was why Catra was reluctant to let their flirting heat up. And to think, she had almost started letting her guard down. At some point, between the second and third round of wings, she had almost started to consider some what ifs that had been previously designated off limits.

“It’s annoying. I told her to stop.” Adora was scrolling through the texts.

“What does she text you about?” Catra couldn’t resist asking.

“She wants to talk, she misses me, she found something I left at the apartment. Bunch of bullshit.”

“You don’t want to talk to her?”

“No. Ugh. No, and I also don’t want to bore you with this. You’ve listened to my breakup drama enough.”

“I don’t mind. I mean, I’m not going to force you. You don’t have to tell me anything. But I don’t mind.” That was a blatant lie. Catra did mind. She would be perfectly content never hearing another word about Adora’s ex. But it seemed like the right thing to say at the moment. 

Adora was silent.

“Do you miss her?” Catra asked. That actually was something Catra wanted to know, but she doubted how much faith she’d put in Adora’s answer.

“No,” Adora replied. She paused. “I miss some stuff. But I don’t miss her. It was just...we were together for a long time. But..I don’t know...”

“What?”

“Maybe just because you’re with someone for a long time, it doesn’t mean you’re good together.” Adora looked sad. She picked at the label of her beer bottle.

Catra didn’t have a response. How could she know what to say? Her longest relationship was three months, not three years. This was uncharted territory. While they sat in silence, their server dropped off the check, providing an excellent excuse to change the subject.

“We better take care of that, it’s almost time for us to clock in.”

“Oh, yeah, wow, it’s later than I realized.” Adora grabbed the check and headed up to the host stand to make good on their wager. The conversation was subdued on their walk from the pub to the diner, and things stayed pretty muted through the shift. It wasn’t awkward, just quiet. Luckily, they had a pretty steady stream of customers through the night and the shift passed quickly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, Catra's not a total dummy about ~feelings~ but she is conflicted. She also knows what's up at the izakaya. Here's what they ordered:
> 
> teba saki - Japanese-style chicken wings  
> yaki onigiri - grilled rice balls  
> age nasu - eggplant in broth  
> shisito peppers - mild chiles  
> miso black cod - self explanatory  
> enoki - mushrooms
> 
> The chapter title, obviously, comes from Kenny Roger's The Gambler.
> 
> Thanks so much for reading! Let me know what restaurants you've missed the most throughout this pandemic helltime in the comments or on twitter @okegihshigeko ✌️


	9. are you wasting my time?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora kicks it up a notch!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Sorry for the slight delay in getting this one posted. I know I don’t really keep to an updating schedule but I can usually get chapters out faster than this. But work stuff piled up and I didn’t get much time to write over the last week.
> 
> Anyway, I’ve decided to make a slight adjustment to the timeline that was laid out earlier in the story and push Jewelstar’s pop up dinner back a bit. Also, just to clarify, the story started in the summer, like mid-August, and it’s now late September. The pop up dinner will happen soon, in the first week of October.

Despite her confessed hatred for the Brightmoon Diner instagram account, Catra was surprisingly good at managing it. The photos of pies and waffles and burgers and shakes that she posted on the main page more than got the job done, her caption game was strong, and most importantly, she’d managed to build up a late night fan base through the stories. Some nights she would catch Adora ranting about some absurdly small detail of diner cuisine, like the supremacy of sausage patties over links. Adora’s weird takes resulted (inexplicably, in Catra’s opinion) in a flood of responses from followers, whether or not Catra offered a free slice of pie for the best take down. Other nights she would highlight a new dish that Adora was working on and late night chowhounds would show up an hour or two later demanding to try it. The account’s follower number was steadily growing and the night shift was noticeably busier.

A couple of weeks into this new era of social media absurdity, Catra watched Adora stumble into the kitchen carrying a large shipping crate at the start of their shift. Adora plopped the crate down on the kitchen floor with a grunt, beaming proudly.

Catra eyed the crate with curiosity and then looked to Adora for explanation.

“Fresh Hatch chiles!” she announced, cracking open the crate and pulling out a green chile. “I had them overnighted from New Mexico. It’s the peak of their season.”

“You had a whole crate of green chiles shipped here overnight from New Mexico? How much better can these be than the ones we usually get?”

“Catra. These are  _ Hatch chiles _ . These are, like, the best green chiles in North America. They only come from the Hatch Valley of New Mexico and you can only get them fresh for a couple of weeks each year. Just wait, I’m going to seriously blow your mind. Or your mouth. Or tastebuds, or whatever, you know what I mean.”

Catra raised her eyebrows. “Uh-huh, okay weirdo.”

“This is all part of my big plan.”

“Your plan?”

“Late night specials! I’m going to make something different every night, only available between one and four. And this week, it’s all gonna be Hatch chiles. I think I’m going to make chile rellenos. Not a classic diner plate, but who cares, it’s the special. Tomorrow it’ll be mac and cheese with Hatch chiles. Maybe the next night I’ll do a burger with them. OH! And chilaquiles! I’m definitely going to can a bunch of salsa, so we’ll have it for the next couple of months.” Catra just laughed at how worked up Adora was getting. 

“And Huntara’s cool with you special ordering shit overnight from halfway across the country?”

“Yeah, she was totally into it. She also said you have to feature it on the ‘gram.”

“Ugh. ‘The ‘gram’ Adora? Fine.” Catra had to admit that Adora’s late night special was a good idea, and her enthusiasm was...infectious? No, Catra was definitely not as stoked about it as Adora was, but she did think it was cute that Adora was so excited. And chilaquiles? Yes please.

That night, Adora got to work roasting a bunch of the chiles on a charcoal grill that she set up in the alleyway behind the diner, and the late night specials that week were a total hit. Catra even gave away a jar of salsa for the corniest country music lip sync, which went to a woman who nailed the chorus of Tammy Wynette’s D-I-V-O-R-C-E and showed up almost instantly at 3am to claim her prize.

After Hatch chile madness died down, Adora showed up with a big paper bag full of chanterelle mushrooms. When Catra asked where she got them, she proudly declared that she had foraged them earlier that day. She showed Catra a bunch of photos she’d taken of the orange mushrooms hidden in muddy piles of leaves and under fallen logs in the state park outside of town. Amongst the many, many mushroom shots was a ridiculous (and adorable) selfie Adora had taken while crouching next to an especially impressive cluster of chanterelles. She was grinning and flashing a thumbs up and had mud smeared across her cheek. Adora tried to quickly swipe past to the next photo but Catra snatched her phone immediately texted the photo to herself. 

“It’s for the diner’s account, there’s no way we’re not posting this tonight,” she cackled. “You look like such a dork!”

“You’re such a brat!” Adora lunged to grab her phone back but Catra twirled away and continued scrolling through the photos.

“Got any other good stuff in here?”

Adora made another attempt to snatch the phone back and Catra evaded, keeping the phone just out of Adora’s reach. Impressive, really, considering Adora had an arm span like an albatross. On her next lunge, Adora did catch Catra but also slipped on the wet kitchen floor and only managed to keep them both upright by wrapping her arms around Catra and pinning them both against the counter. They found themselves frozen, mere inches apart, breathing a little too heavily. Catra, in a desperate and slightly panicked attempt to avoid wrapping her arms around Adora’s neck and kissing her, shoved the phone into Adora’s chest and wriggled out of between her and the counter. “Must really be something on there you don’t want me to see, huh?” she managed to spit out, followed by a nervous laugh.

“Pff, you wish,” Adora returned, grinning and clearly also trying to play it cool, like they hadn’t just  _ almost _ ...Catra gulped thinking of the possibility.

“You should come with me sometime,” Adora added. “They’re everywhere this time of year, especially after a big rain like we had last week.”

“You want me to tramp around in the mud looking for fungus with you? No thank you.” 

“You’re such a party pooper. I bet you’ll change your mind when you try the mushroom tart I’m going to make with these. How do you feel about gruyere?” Turning the conversation back to food was the easiest way for them both to bring the temperature in the kitchen down a few degrees.

“I feel extremely  _ yes _ about that tart but I am not going mushroom hunting with you. When do you even sleep anyway?” The thought of spending the day trudging around the forest and then working a whole night shift sounded like torture to Catra. 

“Sleep is secondary when something’s in season. If there’s a window to nab something tasty, you gotta jump on it.” Sometimes the way Adora talked was so dorky it almost pained Catra to listen.  _ Nab something tasty??  _ But Catra was also secretly impressed with Adora’s commitment to and enthusiasm for seasonal ingredients. She liked the way Adora’s eyes lit up when she was talking about it. She liked Adora’s eyes...wait, no! She was not going to go there, catching herself before she got too far off the rails thinking about Adora’s big blue eyes.

“Sure Adora, I’ll remind you about that when you’re falling asleep halfway through our shift tonight.”

“Actually, speaking of seasonal…are you doing anything before work tomorrow?”

“Besides sleeping?”

Adora nodded.

“Nothing, I guess…” Catra replied.

“Can I get you to help me with something then?”

“With what?” Catra crossed her arms and arched her eyebrow. “I am NOT going back to your old apartment again.”

Adora laughed. “Yeah, you and me both. Fuck, that was horrible, and I still feel bad for putting you the middle of that. No, actually, I’m planning to go out to Perfuma’s farm. It’s the very end of blueberry season and I want to pick a ton to freeze for pies and jam for the rest of the year. Perfuma’s blueberries are the best in the area and she said that this week was going to be it for the season. And if you come, we’ll be able to pick twice as many!”

“And you can’t just, like, buy them from her at the farmer’s market like a normal person?”

“No, it’s way cheaper this way, plus whatever is left on the bushes at this point needs to be picked like  _ yesterday _ .”

Catra thought about it. Hadn’t she literally just been thinking about how torturous it sounded to go mushroom hunting before work? She weighed the comfort of her bed against a drive out to the county to go berry picking with Adora. Berry picking was  _ totally _ different from mushroom hunting. It was at a farm, not in the muddy forest. It was...probably different in a lot of other ways too, right? She remembered the goofy mushroom hunting selfie and imagined Adora hefting a crate of berries and flashing that same dumb thumbs up. Cute. Okay, the more she thought about it, the clearer it was that she was definitely going to go berry picking with Adora. Stupid crush. Stupid almost kiss. Stupid cute Adora. Stupid seasonal fruits.

“What time are you going?”

“Would you get enough sleep after tonight if we leave at one?”

“Probably not, but...fine. I’ll come. Scorpia has been texting me non stop about Perfuma since your party and I want to vet her before Scorp falls in love.”

* * *

The drive out to Perfuma’s farm wasn’t too long, and Catra spent half of it trying to stay awake in the warm sun flooding the passenger’s seat of Adora’s car. She was curled up in the seat, knees tucked up to her chest and leaning on her side, facing Adora instead of the window with her eyes only half cracked open. Most days she’d still be asleep at this time. Adora was chattering about all the different fruits Perfuma grew, explaining when certain berries, apples and pears were in season.

“We’re at a critical moment, the end of summer and beginning of fall. These are the last berries and it’ll be awhile before we start getting good apples.”

“ _ So critical _ ,” Catra repeated. 

“Shut up, jerk,” Adora laughed, elbowing Catra lightly. Catra batted her elbow away. “You totally don’t care about this do you? Am I being boring? Sorry.”

“No, I’m just sleepy. Don’t apologize. Tell me more about apples.” Listening to Adora talk was relaxing, even if she didn’t really pay attention to every little detail.

When they pulled up to the farmhouse, Perfuma was waiting for them on the porch. Catra was feeling more awake but was happy for the iced tea Perfuma offered. Catra hadn’t gotten a chance to talk much with Perfuma at Adora’s party, and most of her impression of her was filtered through Scorpia, who was already head over heels. As they chatted, Catra found her to be warm and sweet. Not her type but  _ definitely  _ Scorpia’s.

Perfuma eventually handed them large plastic tubs and led them to the blueberry field. There were rows and rows of bushes but they were picked over and it took work to search out pockets of ripe berries.

“Alright, I’ll leave you to it,” Perfuma said. “Come back to the house when you’re done and we can weigh your haul and cash you out.”

They started picking. Adora was flying down the row, stripping each bush of plump blueberries. Catra took a few minutes to get her bearings but she eventually got the hang of it and started filling her bucket almost as quickly as Adora’s.

“What makes Perfuma’s berries so good anyway?” she asked.

“Have you tasted any?” Adora popped a handful into her mouth.

“Don’t you need to wash them or something?”

“Nah, Perfuma’s totally organic. Try ‘em.”

Catra tried a couple and wow, they really were good. “Damn, these are amazing.”

“Right?”

They picked for a while, steadily filling up their tubs, before Catra remembered that she should probably snap some pictures for the diner instagram. She glanced over at Adora, who was concentrating way too hard on her berry picking. Seriously, she looked like she was performing surgery or defusing a bomb. Catra snapped a few candids and then called over, “Hey dork, smile!”

Adora looked away from the bush and cracked a huge smile.

“Show off your berry haul.”

“No, you gotta bring yours over too.” She waved Catra over. Catra rolled her eyes but she also acquiesced. Catra thought Adora was going to demand they take a selfie together but what she actually wanted to do with heft both tubs up at the same time, one on each shoulder, muscles bulging like some kind of Mr. Universe. Catra’s mouth went dry as she stared at Adora’s supid pose.

“Take the picture! These things are heavy!” Adora prompted Catra, startling her out of her thirsty daze.

“You’re such an idiot,” she groaned. “If you drop those I’m not picking them up.” Catra quickly snapped a couple of shots and Adora set the tubs back down with a grunt.

“Alright, you gotta be in some of these too,” Adora added. She wrapped an arm around Catra and pulled her in for the selfie Catra had been expecting earlier. But she wasn’t expecting it at that moment and flushed red at the sudden full body contact.

“Dude, warn me next time you’re going to man handle me!”

Adora just laughed and snapped the photos.

“Are we done?” Catra asked, after Adora returned her phone. “I want to try and get a nap before work tonight.”

“Yeah, I think we got enough to last us a few months. I don’t think we’ll make it until next year but whatever, we’ve got plenty.”

They cashed out with Perfuma and loaded the harvest into the car. The drive back to town started quietly, both women caught up in their own thoughts. Catra was intermittently wondering how trashed she was going to feel at work after so little sleep and how she was going to stifle her crush on Adora when Adora kept finding new and surprising ways to charm her.

Catra scrolled through the photos they’d taken, looking for a couple to post on the diner account. Definitely Adora’s musclehead pose, a nice shot of the berries on the bush. The selfie they’d taken was cute but it didn’t actually show any blueberries so she should probably just keep that one to herself, right?

Adora broke the silence eventually by describing all the different ways she planned to use the berries. She got a little quieter as they got closer to Catra’s place, and Catra wondered if she was just tired or if there was something else on her mind.

About a block from Catra’s apartment, while they were waiting at a red light, Adora turned to Catra and opened her mouth to say something, but then paused and seemed to change her mind.

“What?” Catra asked. Adora seemed to debate whether or not to say whatever it was she was going to say. The light turned green and they started moving again.

“Come on Adora, you were totally going to say something.”

“Okay fine. You know that pop up dinner that my friend Jewelstar is hosting next week?”

“Yeah, do you still want to go?”

“Yeah, totally.”

“Okay.”

“Well, I was actually wondering…” she stalled again, took a breath, and continued, “Okay, here’s the thing. Every time we hang out, like at work on our downtime or today, or wherever, it’s super fun. I really like it. I really like being with you. And I was wondering...I know we were just, like, going to go to the dinner as friends, but maybe you’d want to go more as, like, a date?”

By this point, they had pulled up in front of Catra’s apartment. Catra opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She closed it. She opened it again and managed to say yes, she would love that. She thought she also might have said that she had fun too and that she would see Adora soon at work before she fled the car and disappeared up into her apartment. She thought she remembered Adora smiling and waving goodbye. She couldn’t remember any more details, but she had to assume she must have looked like a complete idiot.

* * *

Catra had planned to use the couple hours between when Adora dropped her off and the start of their shift to nap, but she was too worked up after  _ that _ . How was she supposed to go to work all night with her after Adora laid all her cards on the table? She cracked open a beer and paced around her studio, replaying the afternoon over and over. On one hand, it was definitely a good thing that Adora was so straightforward about what she wanted. It’s also what Catra wanted, right? On the other hand...Catra had a hard time believing that Adora could be so clear-headed so soon after a major breakup. After all, Catra was literally the first available woman Adora had started hanging out with after she had gotten dumped.

She shouldn’t have been freaking out, she knew that, but she was also way out of her depth. It has been literally years since she had gone out with someone who mattered. Catra liked to keep things casual, low stakes. Going out with Adora was the complete opposite of low stakes. If it blew up in her face (likely, considering her track record), they’d be stuck working together every night. And, more importantly, if (when?) it didn’t work out, Catra knew it was going to devastate her because she was already too far gone.

She was also not unaware of the absurdity of the situation. Adora had said she liked her, and wanted to take her out. She knew she liked Adora, and wanted to go out with her. And yet, despite the simple math required to balance that equation, nothing seemed to add up in Catra’s head.

She tried to shove her  _ feelings _ aside and think about the situation objectively. Pros and cons. Facts. Risk assessment. Her eyes eventually settled on her bookshelf, where she knew she had buried a slim notebook that contained The List. She cringed just thinking about it. The list was a list of qualities that Scorpia had forced her to write down during a particularly low point when Catra had lost it ( _ just a little bit! _ ) over a girl and spent a little too long wallowing in self loathing. It was the kind of thing Scorpia loved and Catra loathed. Catra still couldn’t believe that she had agreed to do it at the time, but it really had been a low point.

_ “Okay Wildcat,”  _ Scorpia had instructed, _ “write out a list of qualities you’re looking for in a partner. Be specific. Dream big. And next to each quality, explain how you’re going to know whether or not someone has that quality.” _

Catra had very clearly explained to Scorpia why she thought the exercise was a stupid and embarrassing waste of time, but Scorpia refused to let it go and eventually Catra did scribble out the list.

And maybe things were getting desperate enough now that she needed to revisit the list. Catra hadn’t even thought about the list since she had hidden it in her bookshelf, mostly because she hadn’t thought about getting serious with anyone since Scorpia had forced her to write it. She tried to remember what she’d written, just to avoid the cringe factor of revisiting such open and vulnerable self reflection. She remembered some basic, obvious stuff. Trustworthy, kind, charming, hot bod (okay, maybe that wasn’t exactly the way she had worded that particular quality, but physical qualities are qualities, alright?), but the whole activity was so embarrassing that she’d blocked most of it from her memory.

She rifled through the bookshelf and quickly found the notebook. There wasn’t much else besides the list in it, despite Scorpia’s best efforts to get Catra to engage in a bunch of different self reflection and visualization exercises. Catra had gone to therapy for a while after she’d left Etheria and she had found this kind of stuff moderately helpful for dealing with some of her teenage trauma, but she was an adult woman and she was not going to keep a  _ diary _ full of her deepest darkest hopes and dreams no matter how much Scorpia begged her to. The list itself was almost a bridge too far.

But here she was, two years later, skimming the list, hoping it would provide some kind of objective insight into what the hell she should do about Adora. Catra had never actually used the list to evaluate her feelings about someone before and she wondered if it was weird that Adora seemed to score high on almost all the qualities. Maybe this wasn’t helpful. She decided to call in some backup, and texted Scorpia.

**Catra**

hey

can i ask you a question?

**Scorpia**

Lay it on me!

**Catra**

hypothetically… 

if you wanted to figure out if someone was over their ex…

how would you tell?

**Scorpia**

Hmmm

Let me ask Perfuma, she’s better at this stuff than me

**Catra**

NO!!!!

she’s adora’s friend!!!

plus we were just at her farm today...

**Scorpia**

I thought this was hypothetical????

**Catra**

UGH

you’re making this annoying on purpose

but seriously

how can you tell?

**Scorpia**

Ok ok

Does she ever talk about her ex?

**Catra**

not really anymore?

she never really did before either, but it would come up

i mean her breakup would come up, not really her ex specifically

only when i asked

**Scorpia**

How does she seem when she talks about it? Sad? Angry?

**Catra**

kind of whatever?

she used to be sad

honestly she hasn’t brought it up in a couple weeks

but they were together for 3 years!

and they only broke up like 2 months ago

**Scorpia**

Hmmm

How does she seem when she talks about it? The breakup

Has she ever said she wishes they hadn’t broken up?

**Catra**

at the very beginning she told me that her ex dumped her because they “weren’t heading in the same direction” or that adora wasn’t ambitious enough or some shit

she dumped adora when she got fired from shadow

the only other time i’ve heard anything is when adora and i were eating together and her ex was blowing up her phone

adora said she told her to stop texting her and that she didn’t want to talk to her

but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re over them

it probably means you’re still upset

right???

**Scorpia**

It’s tough to tell..

What does your gut say??

**Catra**

ugh, i don’t know!

that’s why i’m asking you

**Scorpia**

Ok

Let’s just assume there’s no way you can know for sure

What if you just...take a chance?

What are you afraid of?

What’s the worst that can happen?

**Catra**

SCORPIA

the worst that can happen???

fuck

i like her TOO MUCH

this is bad

**Scorpia**

How can you like someone “too much”

?????

**Catra**

easy

seriously, it’s bad

like i want everything

i want to be with her

for real

not just hook up or be casual or whatever

but if she’s not ready for that, it’s going to wreck me

it’s like all or nothing

**Scorpia**

You gotta talk to her

**Catra**

fuck

no

i can’t just ask her straight up if she’s over her ex

nobody can actually answer that question

**Scorpia**

Well, you’re definitely never going to know anything about how she feels unless you talk to her

And you have to just trust that she’s telling the truth

Maybe she’s ready, maybe she’s not

But you have to talk to her to know

**Catra**

UGH

**Scorpia**

Sorry buddy, that’s what you gotta do

**Catra**

thanks for nothing

**Scorpia**

😘

**Catra**

btw, perfuma is great

perfect for you

i approve

Catra glanced at the clock and realized it was almost time to get ready for work. Great. She had time for a shower and quick dinner before she needed to head to the diner and deal with everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, just want to share that that list of the qualities exercise is something that my girlfriend is fully committed to. She apparently did this three months before we met and I had 17 out of the 18 qualities on her list. I begged her to see this list so that I could use is a model for this chapter, but she STILL refuses to let me see it (after almost six years!) because she's convinced that she cast some kind of spell when she wrote it and if I were to read it, I would break the spell and crumble away into a pile of dust. So if I don't get to see what's on her list of qualities, you all don't get see what's on Catra's. Just trust that Adora has MANY of them.
> 
> Also, I made a [spotify playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4cexRf4UPhdTZCiTSKSjJ3?si=wOi6CglMRruiAjOz7LL6HA) for this fic! The first half is all old country songs that serve as chapter titles and the second half is more what I imagine Catra plays in the diner most nights. Adora, obviously, has terrible taste in music and never gets to choose what they listen to. And if you haven't heard that Tammy Wynette song before, it's one of the corniest, most incredible country songs ever recorded.
> 
> Alright friends, thanks for reading. Catch me on twitter at @okegihshigeko


	10. supposed to be feeling good

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi folks, sorry for the long delay in getting this chapter posted! I’ve been busier than normal because of the holidays and also because my girlfriend finally moved back home after living in another state for work for the past five months, so I’m no longer living as complete hermit. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!

Catra sat in her car in the diner parking lot for a few minutes before her shift started. Adora’s car was already in the lot, so she was obviously already inside. There were a few more cars than normal in the lot, but business had been picking up so Catra didn’t think much of it. She figured it would probably be better to have a busy night, more work to keep her occupied.

Catra still hadn’t decided how she was going to handle things and hoped that a cigarette and an extra ten minutes might make the difference between appearing somewhat normal or like a complete fucking mess. She could do this. Right? Probably?

It was Monday and the pop up dinner was on Thursday. She had three shifts with Adora to get through without...without what? Embarrassing herself? The more Catra thought about it, the more that made sense. Because  _ feelings _ were inherently embarrassing and she was currently dealing with an overabundance of feelings. She just needed to play it cool and not act too embarrassing for three shifts, and then they would have their date and  _ that _ she could handle.

Playing it cool had never been hard for Catra before. In fact, it was usually way too easy for her and she often ended up icing people out before they even got the chance to try for anything significant. With other women, playing it cool was easy because she literally did not give a fuck about what was going to happen. But this was obviously different, she was in uncharted waters.

She took a long drag on her cigarette and thought about how much fun she’d had with Adora earlier that day. She was getting a little lost in the memory when she was abruptly brought back to reality by a loud rapping on her car window.

“Wildcat!” It was Scorpia heading after her shift. “What are you doing out here? Your shift started like ten minutes ago!”

“Hey Scorp.” She climbed out of her car. “I’m still a little worked up about...you know…”

“Adora?”

“Ugh, yeah.”

“Are you going to talk to her?”

“Tonight? At work?? Hell no. But,” she paused, considering how much she actually wanted to divulge.  _ What the hell _ , she figured,  _ might as well just spill it. _ “Well, there’s something I didn’t mention when I was texting you earlier.”

Scorpia’s eyes widened in excitement. Catra groaned and rolled hers in return.

“Okay, so, right before Adora dropped me off after going to Perfuma’s farm, she actually asked me out. Like on a real date. She was upfront about it, said she always had fun and whatever whenever we hang out, and that she wanted to take me to that dinner thing as a date, not just as a friend. And that’s when I freaked out and texted you.”

“Wait. Let me get this straight. You told me you’re worried that she’s not over her ex, but at the same time she just straight up said she’s into you and asked on a date.”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

“Catra.” Scorpia was looking at her like she was a moron. Was she a moron? She suspected sh might be.

“What?”

“You’re beyond help. You’re also SO LATE for your shift. Huntara’s in there right now, you know?”

“Fuck, are you serious? Why didn’t you tell me that right away? Why is she here? But also, what the fuck should I do about Adora? Because now I have to work with her with all this, ugh, like, anticipation hanging over me.”

“I can’t believe I’m about to tell  _ you _ of all people to chill out. You’re overthinking everything. You’re into her, she’s into you, just go with it.”

“Ugh, fine, thanks Scorp. I’ll keep you updated.”

“Night, Wildcat!” Scorpia replied as she hopped into the cab of her truck. 

Catra groaned some more, tossed her cigarette butt into the dumpster and headed into the diner. She made the snap decision that she was going to take Scorpia’s advice and just got with it, whatever  _ it  _ ended up being, for the next few nights.

She had completely forgotten about Hunatra and was expecting to find Adora alone in the kitchen, stationed at the flat top or working on something at the prep table like she was at the start of every shift. Instead, she almost ran head first into her boss, who was introducing Adora to a scrawny dude in a fresh apron.

“Catra! You’re late,” boomed Huntara. “I was just introducing Blondie here to her new assistant.”

Catra looked at Adora in confusion. Adora shrugged, clearly just as surprised as she was.

“Hi,” the kid said. “I’m Kyle.”

Catra just stared back, trying to process the surprise development. In the five years she’d worked at the diner, the night shift had never needed more than a cook and waitress. Even with the increased business over the last few weeks, she and Adora had everything under control.

Huntara must have read Catra’s confusion because she started explaining her surprise decision. “Business has been so good lately that I want Adora to have more time for working on all the extra in-house stuff she’s been making. You know, pies, corned beef, sausage, developing new specials and whatnot. We serve most of that stuff during the day too and half the time we run out, so I want her to make even more. Kyle can handle the basic orders.”

That made sense. And it’s not like Huntara had to run any management decisions past her or Adora, she was the owner after all. Catra eyed the kid, who looked equal parts eager and anxious. Honestly, he looked like an easy mark and Catra had plenty of new employee pranks up her sleeve. She also suspected Adora would be more than game to team up for some light hazing. And bonus - that could be just the thing to keep her mind occupied for the next couple of nights.

“Can he do my side work too?” Catra asked, suddenly pleased at the potential of someone else wiping down all the greasy menus and refilling the ketchup bottles.

“As long as he’s helping Adora get her shit done, you can make him do whatever you want.” Huntara slapped Kyle on the back with enough force to make him grunt and go stumbling across the kitchen. “Alright kids, it’s past my bedtime. I’m outta here. See you in the morning.”

As Huntara headed out, Kyle looked like he was about to start introducing himself again so Catra quickly slipped out of the kitchen to check on the diner customers. There was only one table occupied at that moment so Catra checked on them and then took her usual post behind the cash register. She could hear Adora giving Kyle a run down on the kitchen set up. She was glad to have some time to herself.

When the door chimed a few minutes later, she was happy to see it was Entrapta. She poured a coke for her favorite regular and greeted her as she slid onto a stool at the counter.

“Having your regular tonight?”

Entrapta seemed to think for a minute and then surprised Catra by inquiring if Adora was capable of creating any other types of miniature foods. “The silver dollar cakes are great but I’m in the mood for something new.”

“I think she’s more than capable. Let me see what I can do,” Catra replied. She leaned into the service window between the diner and and the kitchen and saw that Adora was still showing Kyle around. “Hey! I’ve got a special request.”

Adora trotted over to the window and leaned towards Catra. Their faces were much closer than Catra had expected and suddenly it was a lot warmer in the diner than it had been a minute ago.

“Hi,” Adora said, with a lopsided grin that was way too cute for this early in the shift.

“Hey Adora,” Catra managed to reply. Any thought of Entrapta’s order was completely gone from her head, erased by Adora’s blue eyes. 

“So,” Adora finally said, after what could have been anywhere between five seconds and five minutes. “What did you say about a special order?”

“Oh, yeah, Entrapta wants something tiny and delicious and off menu. Chef’s choice.”

“I think I can manage that. I’ll bring it out when it’s ready, I want to say hi to her.” Adora turned and retreated back into the kitchen and Catra returned to her stool by the cash register. She was starting to think that “just going with the flow” or whatever was not really going to work if she was just going get stuck gazing into Adora’s stupid pretty eyes all night like a love struck idiot. She turned to Entrapta, looking for a diversion.

They chatted for a few minutes about Entrapta’s work, which Catra  _ still _ didn’t really understand. Something about a product launch soon, and new restrictions on drone operations in the city? Entrapta, to her credit, noticed that Catra wasn’t following and changed the subject.

“Your social experiment is going quite well.”

“What social experiment?” Catra asked.

“You know, your late night thing, with the instagram stories and the specials and the contests. You’re basically reshaping the whole culture of the restaurant at night. Late night Brightmoon is a completely different diner than breakfast Brightmoon. Different food, different customers, different everything.”

“Oh...I guess you’re kind of right, huh? Weird. I didn’t even realize how much it’s changed in the last few weeks.”

“So are you and your girlfriend going to open your own place or are you just going to stay here?”

“My what?!” Catra yelped, just as Adora pushed through the door to the kitchen.

“You and Adora. Are you not dating? I just assumed so from the way that you’re always flirting with her on the diner’s instagram account. It’s actually really cute and I have a theory that your newfound popularity on social media is driven, at least in part, by the dynamic on display between the two of you. You must have noticed that yelp reviews for the diner have improved by 32% since Adora started working here, and that...Catra, are you ok? You’re so red.”

“Yeah, Catra, you look really flushed,” Adora added with a wink, and then turned to Entrapta. “I’ve got your order here. I hope my sliders are tiny enough for you.”

Entrapta was more than satisfied with the mini burgers and some more customers had trickled in so Catra went to take their orders as Adora returned to the kitchen.

After spending the first half of the shift stationed out behind the cash register, Catra finally got up the nerve to duck into the kitchen and see how Adora and the new kid were doing. Kyle was working on some orders at the flat top and Adora was rolling out pie crusts. Catra sidled up next Adora and nudged her with her shoulder. “How’s the new kid?” she asked, quietly enough that Kyle wouldn’t overhear them.

Adora grinned mischievously and whispered back, “Watch this…”

She turned and barked his name, “KYLE!”

He yelped and simultaneously sent a burger patty flying across the kitchen and a plate of biscuits and gravy clattering onto the floor, and then, with a whimper, turned slowly and gave Adora the most pained grimace Catra had ever seen.

“What the hell, Kyle?” Adora crossed her arms and shook her head in disappointment.

“Yeah Kyle, are you  _ trying  _ to get fired on your first night? I needed that order like five minutes ago.” Catra was glaring at the poor kid. They let him tremble for a few more seconds before she and Adora both broke down, cackling in laughter.

“Dude, you should have seen your face!” Adora was still cracking up as she helped him clean up the mess he’d created. 

The rest of the shift went pretty smoothly. Catra mostly stayed out of the kitchen but that didn’t stop her from sneaking glances through the service window. Adora caught her looking once, and returned a big dopey smile to which Catra rolled her eyes. And smiled. She couldn’t help it.

As usual, Rogelio rolled into the diner around four and took his regular seat at the counter. Catra chatted with him a bit before he nodded to the kitchen and asked, “How’s he doing?”

“Who? Kyle?”

“Yeah.”

“You know Kyle?”

“Yeah, duh, he’s my boyfriend.”

Catra must have looked as shocked as she felt. Rogelio frowned.

“What? You didn’t know I was gay?”

“No, obviously I knew that, I just...him? And you?”

“Yeah, four years in January.”

“Wow.”

* * *

On Tuesday night, Catra felt more at ease about her shift, at least until Glimmer and Bow showed up and parked in one of the booths. She could already see their shit eating grins from halfway across the diner as she headed over to take their orders.

“Sparkles, Crop Top, nice to see you two clowns tonight,” she deadpanned. “You know what you want yet?”

“Who cares about food, we’re here to talk about Thursday night,” Glimmer declared.

“Excuse me?”

“Don’t play dumb, we know what’s happening on Thursday night.”

“Uh-huh, and what exactly do you think is happening on Thursday night?”

“Adora’s taking you out to wine and dine you at the hottest pop up in the city,” said Glimmer. 

“She’s been talking about it all week,” added Bow. “And she’s planning to--”

“Planning to  _ what _ ?” Adora cut Bow off before he could continue. Catra hadn’t even noticed that she’d left the kitchen, but she must have seen Glimmer and Bow come in.

Bow zipped his mouth shut and Glimmer giggled. Catra suspected that they might have stopped in at the Crimson Waste for a couple of drinks before arriving at the diner. She could probably use that to her advantage and dig a little more information out of them once Adora returned to the kitchen.

“Don’t believe anything these two yahoos tell you,” Adora said to Catra. “Just assume they’re making everything up. You should hear the scandals and gossip they dream up about their coworkers.”

Catra turned back to the pair in the booth. “Is she planning a scandal?” she asked with a smirk.

“Ugh, I wish!” Glimmer replied. “If we’ve learned anything from living with Adora it’s that she’s like the least scandalous person in the city. I would  _ kill _ for an Adora scandal.”

“What would an Adora scandal even look like?” asked Bow. “Actually, more important, what’s the special tonight?”

“I haven’t thought of one yet, but I kinda thought tonight might be a good night for the Big Fight,” Adora looked at Catra and raised her eyebrows as she said this. Bow and Glimmer looked at each other mock anticipation, though they clearly had no idea what Adora was talking about.

The Big Fight was an ongoing argument Catra had been having with Adora about pancakes vs. waffles. Adora insisted that waffles were superior and believed that the diner crowd fully agreed with her, but Catra knew from years of working there that people ordered pancakes way more often. They’d agreed that the only way to solve this was to put the question to the diner customers.

The plan for the Big Fight was to offer pancakes and waffles at half price if the person who ordered was willing to take a stand on the instagram story. At the end of the night, they’d review all the evidence and crown a winner.

“Tonight?” Catra asked. “I feel like we need to promote it so that we get a good crowd in here. Let’s start advertising it tonight and then actually have it next week.”

“Okay, good point.”

“Can we help?! Bow and I can be the MCs and, like, collect all the testimonials or whatever.”

“And we can be the judges!”

“You can be the MCs but Catra and I are the judges. And Kyle? I guess?”

“Who’s Kyle?”

“Kyle’s the other cook. He just started last night.”

“Yeah, actually, we should have three judges so that there’s a tiebreaker when you and I end up disagreeing,” Adora decided. “Because despite the fact that waffles are clearly superior, you’re never going to admit it.”

“I hope you don’t cry too much when pancakes win,” Catra replied.

Bow and Glimmer did an excellent job hyping the Big Fight, and even went so far as to order a full stack and a deluxe waffle to show off the goods. Bow promised to wear a tux for the Big Fight, just like an announcer at a boxing match and Glimmer said she’d hype the event to her shockingly high number of instagram followers.

* * *

By Wednesday night, the vibe in the diner was almost back to normal. Catra’s nerves had relaxed and she had also gotten used to having another person on shift with her and Adora. Kyle actually provided a useful buffer, ensuring that she didn’t end up spending the entire night in the kitchen instead of actually waiting on customers.

During an especially slow stretch around two-thirty, Catra convinced Kyle that it was his turn to “perform” for the diner’s instagram and he shocked her and Adora by singing a passionate rendition of Jolene, complete with a mop-as-microphone. It would have been flawless if he hadn’t tripped over the mop bucket at the very end and gone tumbling onto the floor into a puddle of nasty mop water. Catra caught the whole thing on video and she and Adora spent a good thirty minutes cackling as they replayed the finale over and over. She also texted the video to Rogelio, who immediately threatened to come lock her in the walk in if she didn’t stop bullying his boyfriend.

She didn’t actually get any time alone with Adora until they were clocking out at the end of their shift. She was tired and ready to collapse into her bed for a few hours sleep before their date, but couldn’t resist lingering to talk.

“So,” she said as they pulled on jackets and made their way out the back door into the alley. “What time are we going to meet up tonight?” She paused and leaned against the alley wall, hoping Adora was in the mood to chat too. She seemed to accept Catra’s unspoken invitation and also leaned a shoulder against the wall.

“Hmm, I think the dinner starts at seven-thirty but they’re doing drinks earlier so maybe I’ll pick you around six?”

“Do you know what he’s serving tonight?”

“No idea, but knowing Jewelstar, it’ll probably be cajun. He’s from New Orleans and that’s the kinda place he’s planning to open. He makes this etouffee that is so fucking good. But yeah, I have no idea what he’s making tonight. But you should be excited because whatever he serves is going to be killer.”

“Oh don’t worry, I’m excited.” Catra realized she was probably staring (no...gazing?) into Adora’s eyes but she decided to just go with it. They looked especially blue in the early morning light, and Adora was looking right back at her. And then Adora’s hand was reaching for hers, fingers intertwining in hers, and it suddenly felt  _ very likely _ , almost inevitable, that she was going to kiss Adora right there in the alley behind the diner.

And then Kyle came bursting through the diner’s back door and completely ruined the moment.

“Hey guys!” he beamed. Catra just glared back at him but Adora managed to reply.

“Hi Kyle. Headed home?”

“Rogelio’s coming to pick me up.”

“Great, see you later,” Catra growled. She realized her hand was still in Adora’s and took advantage of that to drag Adora away from Kyle and out to the parking lot.

“Bye Kyle!” Adora called, stumbling behind Catra.

When they arrived at Catra’s car, she gave Adora a quick hug and quick kiss on the cheek and let her know that she needed to get some sleep if she was going to be any kind of fun that night. Adora was still standing next to her car smiling as Catra pulled out of the lot and headed home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading!
> 
> If you would like to weigh in on the Big Fight, you can vote in my twitter poll and follow me @okegihshigeko
> 
> The dinner date is finally up next!


	11. me and the devil

Adora had said she would swing by to pick Catra up “around six” but of course she arrived at exactly six o’clock. Catra considered the ten minutes she made Adora wait to be a dork tax and also knew that her razor-sharp eyeliner was worth the wait. After half a week of nerves, she was surprisingly calm and frankly quite stoked to be going to this dinner with Adora.

When Catra finally stepped out the door and onto the sidewalk, she took a moment to appreciate how good Adora looked leaning against the passenger side of the car. Black jeans, chambray shirt, brown leather desert boots - it was a look Catra had not seen on Adora but it worked. Adora had a dopey smile painted across her face, and Catra paused to drink in the scene. It only took her a beat to notice that Adora wasn’t alone; Bow was waving enthusiastically from the driver’s seat. Not exactly what Catra was expecting.

Before Adora could even greet her, Catra asked dryly, “So, should I expect every date with you to include a third wheel, or is Arrow Boy just an extra precaution for our first?”

“Bow insisted that he drive us there and made me promise to get an uber home so neither of us would be drinking and driving. Sorry, I should have given you a heads up.”

“Safety first!” Bow added.

Okay, so it was considerate but it also really threw off the vibe and Catra wasn’t quite sure how to act now that Bow was in the mix. Adora gave her a quick hug and opened up the passenger door. “You can take the front seat, I’ll hop in the back.”

“I feel like we’re being chaperoned,” Catra huffed under her breath, though she was certain that both Adora and Bow heard her. Thankfully the drive was short and Bow was charming and considerate enough to mitigate any of the awkwardness he imposed.

He dropped them off with a sing-song “Have fun!” to which Catra replied with her most sarcastic “Thanks,  _ Dad _ .” Bow just laughed as he pulled away from the curb, leaving Catra alone with Adora for the first time that evening. Adora turned to head directly inside but Catra snagged her sleeve and tugged her back.

“Hey, hold up,” she said. Adora looked a little confused until Catra stepped closer and explained, “I haven’t even gotten to say hi to you yet.”

“Oh,” Adora replied, smiling softly. “Hi.”

“Hi.” Catra grinned mischievously and poked Adora on the forehead. “Also, you have no business showing up at my door looking this good and then making me ride all the way here  _ with Bow  _ in the car _. _ ”

Adora laughed. “There was no way he was going to let me drive tonight.”

“Whatever, it’s fine.”

“Good. Should we head in?”

“No, wait, I just want to get something out the way now, because I’ve been thinking about it since this morning.”

They were standing close enough now for Catra to truly appreciate their height difference. Adora didn’t tower over her, but she did have to stretch up to wrap her hands around the back of Adora’s neck when she kissed her. It was soft and short, over before Adora even realized what was happening. When Catra pulled back, Adora seemed to be frozen in a dreamy smile.

“Wow,” Adora mumbled.

“Don’t ruin it,” Catra immediately shot back. She slid her hand into Adora’s and started towards the door. “Now show me what this whole thing is all about.”

The pop up was happening in an old warehouse in the arts district. The building would have looked abandoned except for the people milling around outside the entrance and a small sign that read “Boudreaux’s” and ~ _ one night only~ _ . Adora bypassed the small crowd and headed straight to the door where they were greeted by Starla.

“So he’s got you working the door tonight?” Adora asked after a quick greeting and hug.

“He promised this was my only job, so once everybody gets their asses inside, I’m off the clock.”

“Well come find us when you’re done.”

“Yeah, absolutely. I want to know all about  _ this _ development,” Starla teased, waving a finger at Adora and Catra’s intertwined hands. “Oh, and you should hit up the bar right away. J’s got some wild stuff there.”

They headed in. There was a long table set in the center of the warehouse space with a bar off to the side and some seating areas spread around the corners of the room. The space was still obviously a warehouse, the antique rugs, stained glass lamps, flickering candles and the live musician growling out Robert Johnson and Son House covers set a distinctly New Orleans vibe. 

Adora pulled them directly to the bar and gasped in excitement as she scanned the cocktail list and scanned the bottles. Starla had not been lying; Jewelstar had every classic NOLA cocktail on offer, along with an impressive array of brandies and armagnacs for after dinner. But the centerpiece of the bar was an ornate absinthe fountain dripping chilled water slowly over sugarcubes suspended above glasses of the green liqueur.

“The chef recommends you begin with the absinthe,” the bartender suggested. Adora grinned and nodded, requesting two.

“This isn’t going to make me see weird shit is it?” Catra whispered. Adora laughed.

“Nah, it’s super regulated, no way you’re going to hallucinate or anything. Jay’s just trying to impress us with the whole fountain set up. And honestly, it’s working.”

They were waiting for their drinks when a loud voice boomed behind them, “Excuse me, barkeep! I believe the  _ traditional _ way to drink absinthe is to douse the sugar and light it afire!” That was followed by a loud and long groan.

Catra turned and found herself face to face with Sea Hawk.

“Sea Hawk,” Catra said, “I should have known it was you.”   
  
“A-ha! Catra, Adora, fancy running into you here!”

“Hi Sea Hawk,” said Adora.   
  
“Hey, I’m here too, don’t make a big deal about it,” Mermista added from behind him, shaking her head in embarrassment. “He tries to order flaming drinks everywhere we go. I’ve told him like a million times that Seaworthy is the only place that does that. Not every bar is a fucking tiki bar.”

“I beg to differ! Any drink can be transformed into a flaming drink with a high enough proof alcohol and a match!”

“I swear to god, Sea Hawk…”

“I’m sorry my darling, but it’s true.”

“Some driver you got there,” Catra said, nudging Mermista in the shoulder.

“Such a pain in my ass. He shouldn’t even be drinking, he’s  _ my driver. _ If I have to drive home tonight he’s sleeping on the couch.” She took a moment to glare at Sea Hawk, who was still trying to convince the bartender to try his flaming sugar cube method. “ _ Anyway _ ...I saw that pancake thing you guys are doing at the diner next week.”

“Uh, I believe you mean ‘that waffle thing’ since waffles are obviously better?” Adora corrected. Mermista rolled her eyes.

“Whatever, maybe I’ll come.”

“Seriously? That would be awesome.”   
  
“Not like I have anything better to do when we’re not shooting.”

They chatted with Mermista for a while longer before Adora caught sight of some of her friends and toured Catra around the room, introducing her to a handful of people she used to cook with when she was at Shadow and some other folks from the restaurant scene. Catra was surprised to realize that in this context, Adora was confident and charming and apparently knew  _ everybody _ . It was fun and weird to see Adora moving through this different world and Catra’s heart thumped a little louder every time Adora introduced her to someone new just because of the way Adora beamed at her when she said her name.

Soon they were ready for new drinks and headed back to the bar. Catra ordered a sazerac (simple, classy, strong) but of course Adora chose a ramos gin fizz, the most complicated drink on offer. Catra laughed and sipped her drink as the bartender spent what felt like  _ several minutes _ shaking the cocktail.

“If you’ve never had one, you’re missing out,” Adora insisted, when she finally was served her gin fizz. The drink was served in a collins glass and had the thickest foam head Catra had ever seen on a cocktail. Like, it was almost half foam. And she’d seen the heavy cream and eggwhite that went into it, so no matter how good Adora claimed it was, the drink was a big nope for Catra. 

“I’m sorry but I tend to avoid drinks with that much dairy,” Catra replied. “Especially  _ before _ dinner, gross.” Adora just laughed and took a big swig, which left her with an embarrassingly cute foam mustache. She grinned at Catra, either unaware of or completely fine with the foam ‘stache. Catra simply had no choice but to reach up and gently wipe the foam from Adora’s lip. She licked the foam off her thumb and smirked as Adora’s eyes went wide.

“Okay, it tastes pretty good,” she purred.

“I told you so,” replied Adora, surprise replaced with a cocky grin.

“But I think I might need another taste, just be sure...” Catra added as she stretched up to kiss Adora. Their second kiss of the evening was slower, deeper and notably more alcoholic than the first. Catra snuck in a little nip on Adora’s lip as they pulled apart. “We probably shouldn’t be making out right in the middle of everything,” Catra conceded, hand still wrapped around the back of Adora’s head. She gave her another quick kiss, polished off the sazerac and excused herself to go to the restroom.

So far, the date was going way better than Catra thought it would. There was none of the awkwardness she’d worried about. It was so easy to have fun with Adora. She was starting to wonder what she’d even been so stressed about, but then, on her way out of the restroom, she was stopped by a woman she hadn’t seen before.

“Having fun?” the woman asked, in a vaguely aggressive tone.

“Um, yes?”

“You don’t recognize me, do you?” 

She did look kind of familiar, but Catra couldn’t place her.

“No. Should I?”

“We’ve met. In my apartment.”

She paused, waiting for Catra to put the pieces together, and Catra quickly realized she was face to face with Adora’s ex.  _ Shit.  _ She considered playing dumb, actingly like she didn’t remember the whole apartment incident, but that probably wouldn’t help her current situation. She also considered pulling some petty shit like she did the first time they’d met, but she didn’t want to cause a scene. She decided to try to let things play out as quickly as possible. Catra tried to evaluate the woman’s expression but read nothing but aggression off her. She should probably say  _ something _ .

“Oh, right. Well, if you’re here looking for Adora, I don’t think she’s going to be too happy to see you.”

“Why? Because she’s with you now?” The woman laughed. “Like that matters.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Not causing a scene was going to be challenging if this woman didn’t back off soon.

“Oh, honey,” she said, turning Catra’s favorite sarcastic term of endearment against her in a way that pissed Catra off to no end, “I was with Adora for  _ years _ . She’s known you for what? A couple months? You’re crazy if you think that’s going to last.”

Catra felt anger building up inside her, but she did everything in her power to try to hide it. She clenched her jaw to stop herself from saying anything she’d regret. The woman kept talking.

“Why do you think Adora’s even here? To eat the food? To see Jewelstar? No, she’s here  _ networking _ . She’s not going to stay at that shitty diner forever, she’s obviously looking to get back into a real kitchen. And as soon as she does, she’ll be done with you too. You and that diner are just a pitstop while she deals with her little identity crisis or whatever was going on with her.”

“Okay,  _ first of all _ , I’ve know Adora for way longer than you have,” Catra started, preparing to finally let loose the string of expletives that had been queuing up in her mind. But then she felt a hand on the small of her back. She whirled around, ready to deck whoever was touching her, and realized it was Adora.

“Catra, hey, I was wondering where you went…” Adora said, clearly worried and glancing back and forth between Catra and her ex. Adora turned to the other woman. “What are you even doing here?”

The woman smiled serenely, as if she wasn’t the biggest bitch on the planet. “Jewelstar ordered all the wine from my shop. Of course I was going to come support him. Such a surprise running into you, Adora!”

Catra was still fuming but she was desperate to keep it hidden. She was not about to ruin the night. Adora’s hand, still planted firmly on the small of her back, helped calm her a little.

“Yeah, I’m pretty surprised to see you too,” Adora said. “Do us a favor and leave us alone for the rest of the night, okay? I have nothing to say to you.”

The woman’s face fell briefly but she quickly recovered her smile. “If that’s what you want, Adora. Enjoy the dinner.” She quickly wandered away to another crowded part of the room.

Adora turned to Catra, eyes full of concern. “I’m so sorry, I really had  _ no idea _ she would be here. Jay should have given me a heads up. I hope she didn’t say anything too bad.”

Catra swallowed her adrenaline and anger at the woman’s insinuations and just shook her head. “It’s fine. Can we just not talk about it? At least not right now?”

“Yeah, totally. I think people are getting seated for dinner anyway.”

Catra and Adora found seats near the end of an exceedingly long table set in the center of the warehouse. Mermist and Sea Hawk were seated directly across from them and, thankfully, Adora’s ex was somewhere down at the other end of the table. Starla snagged a seat next to Mermista and quickly fell into conversation with the actress.

By the time they had devoured the appetizers (pimento cheese and an incredible salad of field peas and blue crab), Catra was starting to forget about the run-in with Adora’s ex. Catra learned that Jewelstar and Starla had a sister named Talli (short for Tallstar?) who wasn’t able to make it because she was back home in New Orleans.

“What’s up with the star names?” Mermista asked, blunt as always.

“Our mom’s name is Estelle and she just really loves a theme,” Starla explained. “We didn’t realize it was weird until we got older. But look who’s talking,  _ Mermista _ , star of  _ Mermysteries _ .”

“Oh, it’s totally a stage name. I made it up like a million years ago. And before you ask, no, you cannot know my legal name. And don’t even think about asking Sea Hawk, because he doesn’t know.”

“Wow, noted.”

The absolutely divine gumbo that showed up for the second course erased the aftertaste of Adora’s ex even more, aided by the generous pours for the wine pairings and Sea Hawk’s captivating (and questionably truthful) tales of his exploits in the French Quarter. Catra was cackling at his stories and barely even registered the fact that Adora’s ex had not stopped staring at their end of the table since the meal started. At some point after the third course (and third glass of wine), they were freely partaking in the food on each other’s plates and Adora’s hand found its way to Catra’s thigh, and Catra had stopped thinking about Adora’s ex completely.

Up until the main, all the courses had been chosen for them but Jewelstar had three entrees on offer. A few of the people sitting around them ordered the porkchop, but Adora went with the shrimp etouffee, which she claimed was Jewelstar’s crown jewel (her terrible joke, obviously). Catra was the only one in their region of the table that ordered the soft shell crab. The chop was fine and the etouffee was amazing but the crab...holy shit, the crab was incredible. The deep fried crustacean was served on a bed of spicy, vinegary greens and topped with a remoulade sauce and it frankly blew every other dish out of the water. The only reason Catra let Adora have  _ any  _ of it was because it was their first date and she knew she shouldn’t be slapping silverware out of Adora’s hands this early on.

“I swear to god if you eat any more of my crab, this fork is going in your shoulder,” she growled as Adora snuck another bite off her plate. “I’m going to make you go back into the kitchen and get me another one. I don’t care what Jewelstar says.”

“Oh come on, Catra! I let you have like half of my shrimp.”

“That sounds like a  _ you _ problem.” To emphasize her point, Catra scooped up the last big bite of Adora’s etouffee. Soon all the plates were cleared for dessert.

The food and the wine and the table chatter and Adora’s hand parked comfortably atop her thigh had erased all thoughts of Adora’s ex from Catra’s mind until the dessert (bananas foster, flambe’d tableside to Sea Hawk’s delight) was being served. She felt Adora tense up and noticed that she and her ex were having some kind of silent argument across the long table. She chose to try to ignore it at first but Adora’s attention was locked onto her ex and when, eventually, her ex stood and made her way to the restroom, Adora excused herself and followed before Catra could protest.

Starla definitely noticed but was clearly pretending she didn’t. Mermista had her hands full trying to keep Sea Hawk’s hands off the flaming dessert so she didn’t notice and Catra was left on her own to figure out what the fuck was happening. She waited a couple of minutes, then five, then ten and that was enough. She excused herself, saying she needed some fresh air and a cigarette. Starla nodded and said she’d let Adora know.

Catra found an exit at the back of the room and pushed her way out into the alley. But she knew (hoped?) that Adora would probably come after her and she needed some time alone, so she found the fire escape and made her way quickly up to the roof of the warehouse. She perched on the brick ledge, lit a cigarette and took in the view.

A few minutes later she heard the heavy warehouse door swing open and Adora stepped out into the alleyway. She watched Adora scan the area and wander out to the main street, obviously looking for her. When she didn’t find her, Adora went back into the building. A few minutes later, Catra’s phone buzzed.

**Adora**

Where did you go?

**Catra**

roof

**Adora**

???

Catra slipped her phone back into her pocket and lit another cigarette. She hadn’t thought about how cold it would be up there when she’d scaled the fire escape but the view and the solitude was worth it. She knew she should go back and find Adora soon, but not yet. She felt her phone vibrating with an incoming call but ignored it.

Eventually, after she’d finished her second cigarette and started wishing she’d brought a beer or something up with her, Catra heard somebody clanging ungracefully up the rusty ladders of the fire escape. Adora popped over the edge of the roof a moment later and scanned the roof until she spotted Catra sitting with her back against a large vent, knees tucked up to her chest.

“You kinda ditched me down there,” Adora said after she’d settled down beside Catra. Catra frowned and stared Adora down for a long moment before replying.

“I could say the same for you.”   
  
“What are you talking about?”

“You followed her into the bathroom and then never came back.”

Adora sighed. “It’s not like that.”

“Yeah, well explain what it’s like then.”

“I followed her in there to tell her to back off. I was trying to  _ not _ make a scene. I should have told you beforehand.”

“Whatever.” Catra lit a third cigarette. She was already going to feel like shit in the morning, so why not? They sat in silence while Catra smoked. She could tell Adora was upset and probably trying to figure out exactly what to say. She let this subtle torture continue for a while before she finally broke the silence. “You know I’m not down for this kind of drama.”

Adora looked hurt. Not exactly the reaction Catra was expecting, so she continued.

“If you’ve still got shit to work out with your ex, leave me out of it. I like you. A lot. Probably too much. But I’m not going to do messy and I’m definitely going to be some rebound for you to work all your baggage out with.”

Now Adora looked like she might cry, and that kind of pissed Catra off because she fully believed she was the only one on that roof who was entitled to tears at the moment. She took a long drag and blew the smoke up and away from Adora. “You know she said some shit to me earlier, outside the bathroom before you came up to us.”

Adora’s expression darkened. “Seriously? What did she say? Fuck. I’m really sorry.”

“She said something about how you’re better than the diner and you’re only working there while you work through your ‘identity crisis’ or whatever. That you’ll be back in a real kitchen soon.”

Adora was silent for much too long, so Catra kept going. “And seeing you here tonight with all your friends...it was fun at first but then I realized that she’s probably right. You are better than a diner cook, you should be working somewhere better. Fuck, you could probably have your restaurant. Look at Jewelstar, opening his own place. You’re at least as good as he is. And so I guess I kinda feel like an idiot for not realizing that sooner. What did I think was going to happen? You were just going keep working a shitty night shift at some stupid diner for the rest of your life?”

Catra was spiraling. She felt Adora squeeze her hand and the pressure jolted her out of it momentarily. “Hey,” Adora said. “Hold on a minute.”

Catra looked at her, waiting for whatever she was going to say. Adora seemed to be trying to sort it out herself as well, but she eventually did start talking again. “Okay, so, it’s true, I had no idea what I was going to do when I started working at the diner, and I kinda did think it was something temporary until I figured all my shit out. Literally everything in my life had fallen apart, basically at the same time, and I really just needed a paycheck.”

Nothing about what Adora was saying was making Catra feel any better. She tried to pull her hand away from Adora but Adora held it tight and kept talking.

“But after working there for a while, I realized something.”

“What?”

“I hated working in fine dining, and I love working at the diner. It’s not like any other job I’ve had. I can basically do whatever I want as long as I get the orders out quickly, it’s not stressful, my boss is chill. It’s actually really fun working there. It doesn’t pay great and I don’t super love the night shift but I like working with you. I’m not planning on leaving any time soon.”

Catra relaxed a little and even leaned her head against Adora’s shoulder.

“It kind of feels like I’ve always been doing what other people thought I should be doing, like playing soccer in college instead of just going to college, or working a Shadow. Everybody was always telling me what a great opportunity it was and that I’d be stupid if I didn’t take the offer when I got it. I never stopped to think if I actually wanted to work somewhere like that.”

Adora wrapped her arm around Catra, who tucked herself into Adora’s side.

“And also,” Adora added, “I feel like I shouldn’t have to point this out, but you and diner are not the same thing. Even if I wasn’t going to stay at the diner, I’d still want to be with you.” She pressed a kiss into Catra’s temple.

“You promise?” Catra flushed with embarrassment at her request for reassurance, but Adora didn’t seem to care.

“Yeah, I promise,” she replied.

They sat in silence on the roof of the warehouse until Adora’s phone started ringing. Adora checked the screen but declined the call.

“It’s Starla. She’s probably wondering if I ever found you.”

“I guess we should go back in, huh?”

“Yeah. People are probably clearing out but I was hoping to congratulate Jay before we left.”

Catra leaned closer into Adora and sighed. “I didn’t ruin it, did I?”

“Ruin it? No way. Not even close.”

Catra kissed Adora’s cheek. “Thanks.”

“I mean, if you had disappeared before the entree and I had to miss out on that soft shell crab to come find you, then  _ maybe _ you would have.” Adora laughed and squeezed her arm tighter around Catra.

“Shut up.”

Adora took considerably more time than Catra on their descent down the fire escape, as she gingerly tested every rung of the ladders.

“Oh my god, how does it feel to be the world’s slowest person?” Catra teased when Adora finally planted both feet on the ground. “I thought you were a jock but I guess those muscles are display only.”

Adora, indignant, argued back that she had a lot more mass to account for and threatened to toss Catra over her shoulder and carry her back into the warehouse if she didn’t stop teasing her.

Almost everybody had left by the time they returned to the pop-up, but Starla and Jewelstar were relaxing with a bottle of armagnac on a couple of couches in a corner of the warehouse. When Adora and Catra joined them, Starla looked relieved.

“Jay, that was just...perfect. Everything was so fucking good,” Adora told her friend as he poured them a nightcap. “You really pulled it off.”

“Thanks,” Jewelstar replied. He was clearly exhausted from the long day. “Oh, and sorry about not giving you a heads up about...you know…”

“Yeah man, no worries,” Adora said quickly.

By the time Catra and Adora hauled themselves up off the couch to head home, the armagnac bottle was empty and it was much, much later than they anticipated. Catra had held back on the drinks enough to remain functional enough to call Rogelio, her most reliable late night driver.

For most of the evening, even after  _ the incident _ and the rooftop, Catra had planned on asking Adora back to her place but the second (third?) armagnac took that option off the table. Convincing drunk Adora that she should be deposited at her own apartment required some frustrating negotiation, but eventually they were tucked into Rogelio’s cab and on their way.

Catra asked Rogelio to wait as she walked Adora up to her apartment.

“You’re sure you’re leaving?” Adora asked, for the millionth time, when they reached her door.

“Yeah, dummy. But I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

Adora pouted. “Fine.”

“Trust me, you’ll be glad after you sleep this off. And despite everything, tonight was perfect.” Catra wrapped her arms around Adora’s neck and leaned in close and laughed a little at Adora’s drunken frown. “I’m not even mad you’re too wasted to come home with me.”

“No?”

“No.”

Their third and final kiss of the night was sloppy but Catra didn’t care. After they pulled apart she gave Adora a big hug and one last kiss on the cheek before she left. “Night, Adora,” she called as she headed back to Rogelio’s cab.

“Night, Catra.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! It's been a week, huh?
> 
> I hope this chapter was worth the wait. I had fun with it. It just makes sense to me that the Star siblings would be from New Orleans, and I modeled Jewelstar's menu off a restaurant in NOLA called the High Hat Cafe. It's not a fancy pants place but it's super good and I really recommend it if you're ever there. And once again, I think I'm just writing things into this fic that I wish I myself was eating.
> 
> I have [a playlist for this fic](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4cexRf4UPhdTZCiTSKSjJ3?si=-ykrv-xNTTG_DjD3FcObUg) but if you want to get into the delta blues vibe, I recommend just putting on [this Robert Johnson album](https://open.spotify.com/album/2IWaNq5o4tG1w6yxve5BMU?si=111nYI0DTnC_0ljCjfW_jQ). The chapter title also comes from a Robert Johnson song.
> 
> Thanks so much for reading! I invite you to argue about pancakes with me on twitter @okegihshigeko


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